The Sword Thief
by Aergaia
Summary: When Naruto leaves the village at the age of 6, a series of events happen that winds him up in Kiri's rebellion. What will he do now with Haku by his side and Kubikiribocho on his back? First fic NarutoXFemaleHaku Kiri-nin Naruto
1. A New beginning

Hello Everyone I'm Aergaia, I'm new to this site and I'm trying to figure how to do things, but overall I hope you like my story.

ONWARD!

**Konoha 5:00 PM**

A young boy of about 6 years of age was running away from an angry mob as fast as he could. This boy was about 3"7 feet tall and had on a white t-shirt with an orange swirl on it with black shorts with white stripes on the sides with black ninja sandals covering his feet.

This boy was Naruto Uzumaki, a happy young energetic little ball of energy that always made people smile.

The ones who would give him the time of day that is; as the people of Konoha have hated him for reasons he did not know. Naruto was always the outlet for the citizens ire and as such they deemed his life unfit to even walk the streets, always making life difficult for him.

The mob was formed after the supposed stealing of food from a local vendor at his stand. The people of course sought for "justice".

They chased Naruto further into the market district where there were foreign salesmen trading off their goods, a perfect place for the blonde child to hide.

Naruto was no stranger when it came to mobs, he new he just had to hide away from them for a while until their anger subsided or until they gave up. Naruto had become adept at escaping mobs that he could actually elude the ANBU who sometimes joined the mobs in their "justice". Once out of sight, Naruto had jumped into the back of a small caravan biding his time until the mob gave up; which would take considerably long as they were looking everywhere EXCEPT for the caravan for the boy.

The reason for this is because it wouldn't look good if citizens just go snooping into other peoples merchandise without permission now would it?

Naruto had waited in the caravan for a little over an hour until the group of irate townsfolk dispersed, but Naruto didn't know that. Oh no, he couldn't after all he was sleeping like a babe in the caravan's storage space. The reason for this is the vendor's merchandise was specialized in silk, something Naruto never had the pleasure of wearing or feeling. As soon as Naruto had touched the fabric his thoughts were of something akin to a mothers warmth and had fell asleep not 5 minutes after he had hid.

Unbeknownst to Naruto the caravan was moving, taking him to its next destination.

**Kirigakure 1 Day Later**

A lone child was sitting on the cold hard ground knees to the chest with nothing but the clothe- actually no, you couldn't call them clothes as they were ripped, torn and worn leaving just enough to prove decent. This young child Is known as Haku Yuki a frail looking girl at the age of 6 with monochromatic eyes that seemed to shine with a warm luminescence that pierced the fog. She was as tall as 3"6 and had long messy black hair that used to be straight and prim but due to certain... circumstances, fixing her hair was the last thing on her mind.

Though she was in rags and her hair in a state of disarray, there was no denying that she was beautiful something that a blonde boy seemed to take notice of.

Haku looked up at the bright blonde who seemed to be glowing through the mist that covered the area, an upon further inspection she say that the boy had a backpack filled with who knows what.

He looked towards her and had noticed something odd, and reached into his backpack to get an item he stole from the caravan.

* * *

**Caravan ****30**** Minutes Earlier**

Naruto woke up with a start when the caravan had hit a small rock, which not big enough to damage the wheel, managed to upset the balance the caravan had and made it jump.

Naruto quickly wiped his eyes and wondered just how long he had slept. What he didn't know is that he had a full 24 hour rest not only because of the silk but also because there was no one to disturb him as he was sleeping. This was due to the fact that even in his little apartment which he keeps locked, people would still break inside for "justice". And as such Naruto had developed a sixth sense that would alert him of someones malicious presence had they gotten close enough which never happened when he slept in the caravan.

Naruto looked outside only to see water, lots of water as he was near the ocean with a thin layer of mist permeating the air. He knew that he wasn't in Konoha anymore because the trees he knew were long gone.

Now he realized he was in a bad situation, he needed to get to safety as he was sure the merchant wouldn't be too thrilled at the sight of a stowaway and had looked around for things he could use.

To his left was conveniently enough was a beige two strap backpack with multiple pockets for more storage space, inside it though were some scrolls which, since he was pressed for time, couldn't read and looked around for more things.

On the floor next to the backpack was a large hunting knife with a curve to it and it also came with a sheath. It seemed as if the merchant also sold weapons along with clothing.

Naruto quickly strapped on the knife securely as he knew how to use it as on more than a few occasions needed to hunt animals.

He had also found a bow and a quiver with arrows along with some clothes that he could use if it got too cold. Once he thought he took everything of value he looked back to where he was sleeping and found the silk item that brought him comfort and carefully tucked it away in the backpack along with the clothes. And promptly jumped out of the caravan with a soft 'thud' and walked away like nothing happened.

After walking for about 10 minutes, he saw a girl about the same age as him on the ground with her knees to her chest and her head down as if she was crying about something even though no tears were shown on her face .

He approached her as she looked up in concern, wondering who it could be and that caused him to have a glimpse into her eyes.

He saw that one of her eyes was golden, while the other was green. A rare contrast and even rarer colors that engulfed Naruto as he couldn't tear away from the sight before him.

But now he was not looking at her eyes, but rather, her face as she was easily cute and beautiful despite her current appearance.

After finally managing to stop staring, he noticed that she was in rags and decided to help her out as he too knew how it felt to be in poor clothing.

So he reached into his bag which seemed to scare the girl a little bit until he pulled out the clothes as he handed it to her.

Haku was confused as to why this blonde boy would give her something like this. With a shaky hand, she accepted and put on the clothes behind a tree.

Once she came out Naruto saw how she styled her hair as it was now down and straight. She was now wearing a dark green long sleeve shirt with black civilian pants with black ninja sandals. She was happy for what Naruto had done and was walking to him to thank him properly when a gust of wind came and made her shiver.

For some odd reason even though Naruto was in shorts the cold didn't seem to affect him much, but looking at Haku's reaction to the sudden chilling wind he had an Idea.

Reaching back into his bag Naruto then turned to the confused Haku as she was wondering what he was doing, and brought out a silk cloak, the same one that Naruto had slept on and provided him warmth he never felt before. Now Naruto wanted to make sure that he was not the only one to have felt its embrace as he put it around Haku's shoulders. She had noticed that the cloak was sky blue, just like Naruto's eyes and being thankful had said,

"Arigatou"


	2. Haku's Power

Hi everyone! Aergaia again with another chapter! My first fanfic and people are already following it? Wow! Now I know how authors feel. Thanks people.

Disclaimer: (I don't even know why people bother with this but screw it) I don't own Naruto but I own this fic, so I don't own anything but I own everything.

**WARNING: Blood, Killing and Gore present in this chapter.**

**Outskirts of Kirigakure**

Its been only a two days since Naruto had met Haku and during that time they have gotten to know one another better than before.

Naruto had learned that Haku was also six although she didn't say much as she was still shy and reclusive, not wanting to tell anything about what happened before he had met her.

Haku on the other hand learned almost all there is to know about Naruto, almost. As Naruto didn't really feel the need to tell her of the detestation that was directed at him in Konoha. She found herself wanting to smile every time he did as it seemed infectious and somehow warm.

The two had gotten along fine and formed a silent bond with each other that was never spoken, even though both wished for camaraderie with the other.

They were walking with no discernible destination as Naruto had no idea how to get back to Konoha and just followed his instincts which seemed to be working so far. He didn't know why Haku was accompanying him but had liked her company.

Naruto had taken it upon himself to hunt for food when they were hungry and Haku had gathered some vegetables that were around along with some herbs, a skill she learned with her mother.

'Kaa-san' she thought with tears threatening to fall from her eyes. She reminded herself on what happened a week ago when she killed her father with an ability she had wished she never had.

* * *

(Flashback)

Haku was going back to her house with her mother after a bountiful harvest with all sorts of fruits and vegetables.

Once they had gotten back however, her father was waiting for them outside the house with a group of villagers who had on them various tools that ranged from pitchforks to sickles.

Haku's mother was scared, frightened while Haku was confused.

"Tou-san, why are you looking at Kaa-san like that?" Haku asked with a questioning look on her face.

"Shut up!" Her father said, while Haku was taken aback. Why was her father acting like this? Why did he look at them with so much anger and disgust?

"You have no right to call me your father demon! And you!" He pointed to Haku's mom, "You dare deceive me? Fooling me with lies so you could have a successor!?"

Haku's mom was crying while she practically begged, "No! I was never lying to you! Why are you doing this? Don't you love us? Your family?" She had said while holding her daughter in a protective hug.

"That love was a lie, a mere cover so you could protect yourself! But no more, after today your lie will stop here, staring with your spawn!" Haku's father rushed over in a blind rage, managing to cover the distance in mere seconds and raised his weapon, a machete, and struck down at Haku with all his might.

"AHHHHH!" A scream was heard, not from Haku but from her mother.

Haku's mother was hugging her with all her might a a large gash could be seen on her back from shoulder to hip.

Tears were in her eyes as she whispered to Haku "I love you..."

Haku felt the life leave her mother as her protective embrace was ripped from her from her father.

Haku's father forcibly threw her mother away and was about to strike when something happened that no one expected.

Haku's eyes had shifted color, the once brown eyes she had changed into a gold and emerald one as she exerted power.

"AHHHHHHHH!" With the death of her mother at her fathers hands, Haku's mind was into a state of shock and her power was now being directed at her father and his accomplices.

Just then the water from a nearby river had been manipulated and turned to ice that had impacted with half the mob which killed them in a spray of blood.

The mob seeing what happened to their peer tried to run when something else happened.

There were now multiple bubbles around them, too much to get around. Thinking that they were harmless, one of the villagers tried to get pass when a bubble, no bigger than foot exploded in his face.

The force of the explosion not only made a deafening noise, but also had enough power to rip the man's limbs from his body in a gruesome display of gore.

The rest of the villagers had despair on their face as they knew they couldn't get away from the bubbles as there were too many.

The bubbles then seemed to hone in on them and the villagers were no more.

Haku's father had watched the display of power an cowered in fear of the small girl as a a new bubble was made right before his eyes.

This time, however the bubble was massive compared to the others as it swallowed Haku's father whole. The bubble shifted color so instead of being clear there was now a blue sheen to it as Haku managed to fuse it with her ice.

Haku's father tried to pop it with his machete but had failed; in his frantic desperation he forgot the bubble was insulated and no air could get in and was suffering from suffocation.

He grabbed his throat and fell to his knees in the bubble looking at Haku with a pleading eyes. However Haku's eyes were glazed over as if something was possessing her as she reached out with her hand palm facing up, looking as if she was holding the bubble in her hand and had said.

"**Hyoton: Awa Karada Kurrasha" **(Ice Release: Bubble Body Crusher)

The bubble around her had started becoming smaller and smaller. Forgetting about the insulation, her father began screaming pounding on his frozen prison as it crushed his body turning the once blue orb a dark red.

The bubble grew small enough to be about a foot and a half and gently came down and rolled ominously into center of the massacre as if it was the one that started it all.

Haku had fainted on the spot after her rage and fell on the ground. Once she woke up in a few hours she would run away from her village to never see it again.

(End Flashback)

* * *

Haku had become terrified of her power, remembering the carnage that she caused. Since then she had been scared to even come into contact with another person, fearing that her powers would run rampant and would start another bloodbath.

But when she saw Naruto, something about him made her want to trust him, to be his friend.

He seemed as if he wouldn't shun her, like he could understand her, as if like her, was someone who was feared because of their power, but she was broken from her thoughts as a man with grey combat armor and a headband that had the Kirigakure symbol appeared.

"Well, well look who we have here."

* * *

**AN**

Man I had a hard time findind a japanese translation for bubble body crusher, but i still managed to find one.

So how'd you guys like the chapter? Constructive criticism, praise or comments are all welcome, I hope none of this made any of you sick though but i felt the need to just kick Haku's father's ass like that for what he did.

Until again!

-Aergaia


	3. Innocence Lost

Me again! How are you all doing? (Reads comments)

To **spiritwolf35 **\- Allow me to address your fears, they will not become godlike, or over-powered as I would put that in my description, and I'm sorry if you think that **Awa Karada Kurrasha **I think its pretty cool and it is, in fact, an altered version of **Sabaku Kyu. **I just modified it for Haku's use, and chapters are as long as I want dammit! And thank you for commenting your thoughts, i appreciate it.

To **Pyrophorcity - **I will address the bubble power at the end of this chapter if you aren't able to figure it out in this chapter :D

To **the other 6 **\- Thanks for your nice comments! as an author it fills me with happiness, I'm happy enough to give you another chapter! So here you go!

* * *

**Outskirts of Kirigakure**

"Well well, look who we have here." said an unfamiliar voice.

Haku looked at the stranger in panic, while Naruto was on guard, as he had seen the look from Kiri-nin before, **blood-lust**. He saw the way the man sneered at him but was more focused on Haku for some reason, barely able to control himself, like a starved animal looking at its food.

Upon closer inspection, the man had had long brown hair that reached down to his shoulders and brown eyes. He had on a standard chūunin uniform, a grey combat vest with black shinobi pants and sandals but they had all been covered in blood that wasn't his own.

Behind the Kiri-nin lay another man sitting under a tree with a bloody gash and a broken sword hilt beside him, he wasn't moving. He seemed to be dead and his killer was standing right in front of our two protagonists.

"When I heard that a little girl managed to kill over 30 people, with mere bubbles and ice? I couldn't believe it, but you have a bloodline don't you?" Haku was scared of the man, how did he know all this? More importantly how did he know about her bloodline?

"There's a bounty on your head you know, a whopping 100,000 Ryo! (1 Ryo=1 Cent) Best part is, they want you DEAD not alive."

Haku was stunned to say the least; was she going to die here? What of Naruto?

Back to our whiskered blonde, his mind was running at full capacity. 'Haku-chan has a bounty? For killing 30 people? But-but shes too sweet! He must be lying! There's no way she could do anything like that! Its impossible!" Alas we all know it to be true but Naruto knew nothing of his cold world, as he was still too innocent to understand life and more importantly death even with his brush with it numerous times.

Haku had looked at Naruto and saw his inner conflict, worried for her new friend and for his safety along with her own.

The man spoke once again with insane glee, "I guess its my sworn duty to kill you Kekkei Genkai users in the name of the Yondaime Mizukage!"

The nin took out a machete covered in blood, not unlike Haku's father's.

Haku froze, not knowing what to do, did she escape death once only to encounter it again? Is this how it would end? At the hands of a deranged lunatic with the same weapon used to kill her mother? Her thoughts on the matter weren't doing any good as impending death was approaching, she was too scared and still too traumatized to even call upon her gift,or in her mind, curse.

The man had reached her in a mere second his blade glistening with the red source of life and struck down. Haku clenched her eyes shut just waiting for pain, and...

Nothing

She opened her eyes once again to see the Kiri-nin have a confused look on his face as his blade was lowered, and Naruto's back to her face.

"No" she all but whispered.

"Not again!" she grabbed Naruto's shoulder and he fell backwards in her arms with a wound that sliced open his body, shoulder to hip, like her mother.

'Will this keep repeating as long as I stay with anyone? Will everyone I come into contact with end up like Kaa-san?'

Fear gripped her body as she was trying desperately to help her friend wake up, but he had a glazed look in his eyes and didn't move.

"Aww now look what you made me do! See what you Kekkei Genkai users do? You hurt the people around you! This is why you need to die!"

The man kicked Naruto's still form away and turned his eyes toward Haku ready to strike again when she lurched forward and bit his sword arm.

'I won't let Naruto's sacrifice be in vain!'

"Gah! You little bitch! Get! Off! Of! me!" The man repeatedly struck her face, but Haku was unwilling to let go, her bite now drawing blood from the mans arm.

No matter how hard the man punched she would bite harder into his skin.

The Kiri-nin now wanted her off and kicked her in the stomach full force and managed to finally get her off, but had the skin on his arm ripped off.

"AHH! You fucking BITCH! I'll rip your head off!"

The nin was approaching Haku with great anger and the gap between him and Haku was getting ever smaller.

* * *

Unbeknownst to both Haku and the Kiri-nin Naruto was watching the entire exchange within the recesses of his mind.

"Haku!" Naruto was screaming at the top of his lungs for his friend while he was in his subconscious. He could see what was happening on a screen of ethereal energy with nothing solid holding it in place as it was levitating in the air.

"I have to do something quick!" Naruto looked around but found nothing, there was only the sewer he was in but for some reason didn't smell like one. He ran around in a straight direction until he had come face to face with something akin to a jail cell with massive red eyes staring at him, glowing with power.

Naruto however was not scared as his thought were more for the well being of his companion. He noticed the paper in the center but couldn't read what it said. Because, though Naruto had practical skills, he had yet to be taught anything at all. Every skill he had was something he learned through blood sweat and tears.

Mostly the former two, but he was broken from his thoughts as the massive being behind the bars spoke to him.

"**What would you do for power?**"

"What?" Naruto not understanding the question had a look of confusion on his face.

"**To save** **her**"the ethereal screen popped up with a frozen image of the man about to kill Haku "**What would you be willing to** **sacrifice?**"

"Anything! I'll do anything to save her!"

Suddenly Naruto saw the being smile with a feral grin, his teeth more than twice Naruto's size.

"**Good Answer**"

Then Naruto felt a tug and was being pulled by some unknown force away from the prison seeing the colossal being fade away.

* * *

"Die bitch!" The man swung his weapon only for it to be stopped by Naruto red chakra surrounding his body.

Gone was his once blonde hair as it turned into an ebony black with his whisker marks now more deep and defined, as if they were now actual whiskers instead of marks. (basically Menma from movie #6 but in a younger form) And his eyes were now a piercing red with cat like slits in his pupils making him look all the more intimidating.

"The hell!? I thought I killed you earlier!"

"**You thought wrong**" Naruto had stated as a fact in a voice deeper than what his should be and promptly roundhouse kicked the man away from Haku.

The girl in question couldn't believe her eyes! Here was her friend who she thought had died now up back better than ever! Although the power he was exerting felt oddly familiar as something inside her became excited. Before she could express how happy she was to see him alright the Kiri-nin struck again.

Naruto disappeared in a blur with his hunting knife in a reverse grip and met the chuunin's blade with enough force to break through the chuunins guard knocking his hands upward as Naruto appeared behind him knife now broken from the impact of the guard break as time seemed to pause for a moment until...

"AAAAAAGH!" an X shaped wound appeared on the chuunin's chest and blood sprayed out of his lacerations and only uttered the word "J-jinchuuriki..." Something that didn't go unnoticed by Haku as she ran over to her friend.

Naruto eyes and whisker marks had now returned to normal but his ebony hair stayed as he collapsed into Haku's waiting arms.

"Thank you..." was all she said when she heard him chuckle.

"What are friends for ne Haku-chan?" Haku blushed at the suffix and felt happy that he too felt the same way she did as they never expressed it in words to each other.

They were...

friends

* * *

Naruto even though the wound closed and he could move was still suffering from his injury and coughed up blood, his lungs expelling them from their work.

Naruto knew they needed to find someone to help patch them up because Haku too was in a state of worse for wear.

They walked away from the dead chuunin after they searched him for anything thing only to find nothing besides what he was wearing, and they came across the body of the man they saw under the tree with the broken sword.

Naruto had stopped and slowly walked over to the man to see if he had anything of use on him, searching his pockets Naruto found some blood pills and food pills and nothing else.

He was about to leave when he saw that the man was gripping something in his hand. Naruto, curious as to what it was found out that it was a note saying

_Meet us at camp near the old ruins you'll be safe with us_

Naruto had asked Haku what it said and told him what was written and they now had a destination, go to the camp to get help and patched up, hopefully there would be someone to help them.

Before they left the man however, Naruto looked at the broken sword and was compelled to take it; as if... it was calling to him.

Even though the sword was broken it was still massive in size being almost half of Naruto's size.

Naruto took the sword and its owners sword strap and adjusted it so that it was secure on his back, and although it was heavy Naruto grew accustomed to the new weight in seconds.

Now leaving for the ruins they saw in the distance they never did get a good look at the man's face.

This man had bandages aroundhis neck and his Kirigakure headband worn sideways.

The sun had begun to shine on the man as his bandages fell to his neck to show that he was smiling, as if he knew that his sword found a new owner, his sword that he himself used to protect what he believed in.

This man, was Zabuza Momochi the demon of Kirigakure.

* * *

**AN**

Phew! Glad that's over with! I have never wrote a fanfic before so to me these things seem pretty long.

Allow me to address some questions you might have, yes that was Zabuza and he was killed by that chuunin.

This was after his solo rebellion against Yagura who he fought and lost, he was weakened severely hence his death at the hands of the chuunin.

Naruto will now have Kubikiribōchō in his possession and his black hair will stay PERMANENTLY. The reason why I did this is because I feel that when someone uses their bijuu's power their appearances should adapt to the change in chakra nature. So the thing I'm doing is the more times a person uses their bijuu power, the more their appearance will change and the more permanent the change will be. That and also I like how Menma looked in movie 6.

If you haven't guessed it yet Haku is a jinchuuriki too, she holds Saiken the 6 tailed slug, I was going to make it Matatabi but I didn't think that fire would go good with her ice abilities, but i still kept Matatabi's eye color and gave them to Haku.

That's it for now, PEACE!

\- Aergaia


	4. Mysterious Figures

To **greetac - **short, sweet and speaks volumes, thanks.

Allow me to toss another chapter to your guys' way.

* * *

Naruto and Haku were walking towards the old ruins the letter spoke of in the distance.

After their encounter with the Kiri-nin Naruto had eaten both a blood pill and a food pill while Haku had one of the latter to help make them feel temporarily better.

Both Haku and Naruto were silent on their way to the camp to get help. Though both of them we lost in their own thoughts.

'What was that thingy in the cage? And why did I kill that guy? I mean, I know he was hurting Haku-chan but did I really have to kill him? And was what he said about Haku-chan true?' Naruto glanced a look at Haku, 'But Haku-chan looks way too nice to hurt anyone! Could she really have killed over 30 people?' he thought before rubbing his now pitch-black hair with both hands, 'GAH! I don't know anymore!'

Haku's thoughts on the other hand were her once blond friend, 'Why did Naruto-kun's hair change? Is it the same with what happened to my eyes?' her hands gently began to move to her eyes of gold and emerald, 'And, even though it looked evil, why did it feel... warm?'

Haku's train of thoughts were broken however when Naruto had deiced to voice his own.

"Ne... Haku-chan? ...You remember what that guy said back there?" Haku's stomach did a full 360 as she began to sweat feeling a wave of anxiety.

"Haku-chan? Was what he said true? Did you... did you really kill all those people?" Naruto had looked her with an intense look in his eyes that unnerved Haku.

She needed to find a distraction quick! Luckily, they had just arrived at the ruins.

The ruins in question were part of a destroyed village, most of the roofs were collapsed, doorways had been broken down, as if forcefully and moss could be seen growing on the walls of houses that were still standing. There were also pillars sticking out with their support beams and iron bars that once held them in place.

Debris was everywhere, ranging from old wood to broken stones along with remnants of belongings to whoever had lived there, scattered clothes and discarded furniture lay all around. The ruins were also near a clean and clear river, a noticeable contrast from the detritus of the small village that sat right next to it.

However despite the mass wreckage of these buildings Naruto's focus was on one main thing.

"Wha? Where are they!?" Naruto all but yelled had hoped there would be people here to help them. Indeed, there was no one around in the village, no camp, no people, no doctors.

"Naruto-kun be quiet! There still might be some more ninjas around!" Haku whispered to Naruto but not quietly enough as a few figure in the shadows had managed to hear them and quickly disappeared into the darkness when both Haku and Naruto looked around.

"You're right, sorry Haku-chan..." Naruto said in sadness. He didn't need a doctor because he healed far faster than anyone else, he knew this because in one of the Konoha civilians attacks both he and one of the villagers fell on a a few bottles when the civilian had tackled him when he tried to run away. Naruto had pushed himself off the ground but was cut from the glass shards, the same could be said for the civilian but the thing was, Naruto's hands stopped bleeding in 10 seconds and closed in a minute, while the civilians was still bleeding. Before then he had thought everyone else healed the same as him but now he knew better.

No, he didn't need a doctor, but Haku sure did, she still had bruises on her beautiful face.

Naruto felt bad that she was hurt because he couldn't do better against that ninja, if he had some ninja training he could have kicked that nin's butt before he lifted a finger against Haku!

"Naruto-kun" Haku said, "Maybe we can go over to the river over there to clean ourselves up, and get some fresh water and food." she pointed at the large flowing body of water a little ways off from where they were standing.

As they moved along however more shadows began following their every move but went unnoticed by the two.

* * *

**Riverside**

When they got to the waterway the sun had been setting but our ebony and brunette heroes were enjoying what the river had to offer them.

Naruto had set his backpack down along with his broken sword and rushed over to the sparkling stream.

"Wow! The water's so clean!" exclaimed Naruto as he dunked his head into the water sucking in all the water he could.

"Naruto! Didn't I say we need to be quiet!" Haku yelled, but covered her mouth realizing she too shouted, blushing at her mistake.

Naruto had lifted his head out of the water to face Haku, his hair shimmering in the sunset and said, "Its okay Haku! There doesn't seem to be anyone here! I guess that dead dude's message was old or something."

"I hope you're right..." Haku said to herself as the figures in the shadows eyes widened at the mentioning of a message and a dead comrade.

Soon enough, nightfall had occured and Naruto and Haku were sitting by an alight fire made from some of the broken wood debris from the village, and Naruto's survival skills.

In the fire were a number of cooking fish that Naruto had caught from the river and cooked with Haku's expertise.

While Naruto was a mean cook, he only knew some of the basics of cooking that helped him get by. While Haku learned from her mother and father.

Both were enjoying the elements of the night with the moonlight shining and the cold air being heated by the fire's warmth made for a soothing and relaxing feeling.

Once they were done with their food they set up their makeshift bedding they made from remnants of actual beds they both fell asleep, but not before saying

"Goodnight Naruto-kun"

"Goodnight Haku-chan"

And promptly fell asleep after a few minutes, both oblivious to the silhouettes coming out of their hiding places.

There were three of them in total but the one that stood out the most was a middle aged man with blue styled up in a pointed fashion with an eye patch over one eye that didn't seem to have a strap. On his ears were talismans and the mans attire consisted of a sea foam green haori with white trimmings, and on his forehead, A Kirigakure headband.

Quietly he told his subordinates "Knock them out with your sleeping agents and take them to the hideout, I'll take their belonging to search for anything of threat or value.

As two of the men shunshined away, the man took a look at Naruto's backpack before hoisting it over his shoulder then took notice of the broken sword.

'Where have I seen this before?' The man wondered as he was searching through his memories trying to remember where he would have seen a broken sword so big.

'...I can't remember ever seeing a broken sword like this anywhere, but something about it just screams at me. I'd better take it along and ask those kids where they got it from'

Seeing no other reason to stay, the man had disappeared in a torrent of water.

* * *

**AN**

Hey guys wassup! I spent all of Monday trying to write this but I kept getting distracted by videogames and Oneyng videos :p

Aw well, I still finished it at... (looks at time) 10:15!

I have school tomorrow, :( so I might not be able to update as fast as I want to but never fear! I will NEVER **EVER **leave you guys hanging for more than two weeks, if that ever happens, I'm either dead, or worse,

IN A PLACE WITH NO INTERNET

Hopefully it won't be like that, anyways constructive criticism, praise or comments are all welcome and have a nice day!

\- Aergaia


	5. Captivity

Sup guys! In my third period today I found out I can type the story on my tablet! Sooo its convenient for me AND convenient for you guys! Yay!

To **Silvermane1 **\- you will see in my later chapters maybe chapter 5 but I'm not sure, I just write these off my brain without planning anything :D

To **TheRazgrizDragon** \- Thank you for your nice comment!

* * *

**? Unknown Location**

Naruto woke up feeling drowsy, more so than when he usually woke up His arms and legs felt like lead and the taste in his mouth was discomforting to say the least. Whatever was in his mouth tasted slightly like iron and... medicine? Now fully alert but not fully awake Naruto assessed his state of body as he knew something was amiss.

Numb, that would be the word used to describe Naruto's situation, thats when he knew, he knew he had been drugged!

He had been drugged before but never with one this powerful. In Konohagakure civilians could only get what they were allowed to get from ninja shops because they weren't allowed to have anything a ninja would have as a safety measure to reduce any crimes. So unless they were ninja they couldn't have access to ninja tools, I.e. kunai, shuriken but more importantly poison.

Naruto had been inflicted with various homemade poisons and drugs from civilians but had always healed from them rather quickly and the drugs would never last as long. Herein laid the problem, the fact that his body was still numb meant that the drug that someone had used on him were of ninja grade ingriedients and because of this, Naruto knew he was in trouble.

Looking around trying to pry his eyes open he scanned the room he was in to get a better grip on his dilemma.

He was underground, the walls were made of solid stone and weren't smooth but jagged as the room he lay in looked like something akin to a small cave.

Even though he was drugged, his captors had decided to not take any changes and had strapped him down to a table which apparently had wheels on it, sort of like an operating table.

The straps covered his wrists and ankles but surprisingly not his neck or torso, the straps were also made of leather, with buckles restricting Naruto's limbs of any free movement.

As he looked around the room he tried sitting up, only to fail and make a loud BANG as his body crashed against the metal surface of his table.

Once his mind registered what had happened, Naruto had realized something.

'Wait, wheres Haku?' He moved his head from side to side trying to look for his odd eyed friend. She was resting on another table in the same condition as him but was soundly asleep, blissfully unaware of anything that was happening.

Naruto let out a small breath that he didn't know he was holding at Haku's safety and once more scanned the room for more details he could have possibly missed.

The room had a lamp hanging above them, the light on it was dim as the bulb had had flickered in an irregular pattern. The entrance to the room was not a flat door but a set of iron bars that seemed to be rusting in more than a few places.

Suddenly Naruto heard some people outside, seeing this as an opportunity he closed his eyes to feign sleep, but to also concentrate his hearing on whoever was outside his captive prison.

He heard two voices, both male though one had an air of maturity and the other, a voice of one in adolescence.

* * *

"So who was in the ruins Ao?" the adolescent said, and the mature voice, now identified as Ao had replied,

"We found two kids, a boy and a girl, probably around 6 or 7 years of age."

"But why take them? They're just kids!" replied the adolescent voice who had a hint of disbelief that his partner would stoop so low as to kidnapping.

"Chojuro, you aren't thinking rationally, they could be genin just pretending to be harmless children, for all we know they could be loyal to Yagura and were trying to see if anyone was here. That boy we took said something about a message that he took from one of our ally's dead fingers. They could be dangerous we couldn't allow them to leave, not with the information they had. Hell, that kid had advanced jutsu scrolls in his backpack!"

Naruto even though his eyes were closed raised his eyebrows in shock

'Was that what those scrolls were? I thought they were just junk!' but Naruto was broken from his thoughts when he heard the two captors approaching closer to his room, hearing footsteps just a couple of feet away.

The teen known as Chojuro let a small sigh of resignation knowing that what Ao said was true, as things were right now they couldn't take any chances.

As they both got to the room where they were keeping the kids Ao opened the door and went inside with Chojuro.

Both Ao and Chojuro had placed their hands on Naruto and HHaku's tables respectively and had begun to move them out of the room. The wheels sqeaking as they moved along the bumpy and somehow smooth path of stone.

'Where are they taking us?' Thought Naruto as he was carted away to an unknown destination.

* * *

**? Unknown Location**

A total of fifteen minutes passed until Naruto's cart finally came to stop, he opened his eye ever so slightly to see a beautiful auburn haired woman stand before who he assumed to be Ao and Chojuro who were kneeling beside her.

The woman seemed to be in her early 20's woth a well endowed bpdy that would make most women jealous with envy. Her hair was was done in a tie at the top of her head while it flowed down almost to her hips. Her bangs were swept over and covered one eye of her face, but there one thing that Naruto had noticed before any of this.

This woman had an aura of power, even at first glance the level of danger that would come from being her enemy dwarfed that of the Kiri-nin they had fought. Naruto had thought it best not to get on her bad side and avoid her completely when given the chance.

Then he looked to Ao and Chojuro, the middle aged man he thought was Ao wore a green haori with blue hair that stuck straight up and had talisman earrings.

The person who was next to him who Naruto assumed was Chonuro had light blue hair a long sleeve light purple sweater boots and white pants along with some type of chest armor with a huge bandaged sword on his back.

Naruto had to stop his observations when he heard the woman speak,

"So these are the two... threats?" She asked with obvious disbelief in her voice which sounded pleasant to Naruto and not as threatening as he imagined.

"Er... Yes Mei-sama, we found them looking for our camp in the ruins, they had tried to be quiet as to not alert our presence but we had already located them and when night fell, we used a powerful sleeping agent that would keep even a jonin asleep for a while." Ao had stated

"Also" he added "We found in the boy's backpack were about 5 advanced jutsu scrolls, and even a few forbidden jutsus, how this boy managed to get hia hand on them, I cannot say." Ao then went to a corner of the room where Naruto's belongings were.

"And the last thing we found to be of any importance was this" Ao held up Naruto's broken sword as Mei's eyes had widened almost out of their sockets as she looked at the broken weapon.

'No, it couldn't be his, he would never let it out of his sight let alone hands!' Mei was absolutely brimming with concern as she took the sword into her hands.

"Wake up that boy, I need to have a word with him."

* * *

AN

Yay pseudo-cliffy! So yea, I AM writing this on my tablet during school because I really hate the end of my school year and we have to do so much crap and I am a goddamn lazy ass when it comes to things I don't want to do. But enough ranting,

So how'd you like the chapter? Please leave any thoughts in your reviews and have a nice day!

-Aergaia


	6. Heritage

Sup, I was doing part of this in my fourth period class soooo yeah... Good thing teachers don't give notice to individuals when in a group... in the library... but whatever!

To - **Elemental77 **I try to update everyday, and I can, mostly because I suck at writing and can write at least 1000 words a day. So no need to fear as I will try to do what I can. :D

* * *

**? Unknown Location**

Naruto was nervous, no, screw nervous, he was downright terrified. It was clear the woman known as Mei wasn't seeing him in any good light, and to make things worse for Naruto, she had wanted for him to answer some questions.

Naruto knew he was in deep, DEEP trouble, while he was certain he could answer any questions they had, he couldn't refuse anything that was asked of him.

Whoever they were, they held all the cards, and Naruto couldn't do anything but play along until he could find an opportunity to escape along with Haku, who still asleep on her table.

"Ao, get your ass in gear and get the antidote for the sleeping drug!" but Ao did no such thing, instead he said,

"I don't think we need to Mei-sama, it seems he's already awake." Naruto couldn't help but be shocked, how had the man known he was awake?

Naruto opened his eyes and looked at the man in the face for the first time, instantly noticing the bulging veins coming from the mans face leading to his right eye that had a black eye patch on it.

"Release him." Mei commanded, and Chojuro complied, releasing Naruto wrists and ankles from their captivity. Still a little numb from being drugged he struggled to get up as Chojuro surprisingly helped him.

"How is he not knocked out? I thought the sleeping agent we had them take was supposed to make them sleep for at least a day!" Ao stated with much astonishment in his voice. How coukd one so young fight off a drug so powerful? Unless...

"Mei-sama be careful!" said Ao as he moved in front of Mei to guard her, "This boy might be a part of a new specialized unit meant to use assassination techniques! How else could he have fought the drug?"

Naruto decided that this man was insane or something and decided to let him know, "What? Are you crazy or something Jii-san!? Why the hell would you think we were going to hurt you!? You guys were the ones that kidnapped me and my friend!"

"Jii-san?! I'll have you know I'm only 35!" Ao was furious at the old man comment and was losing his composure, in front of Mei no less who had found the situation to be amusing. And while stifling a laugh had temporarily forgotten why she wanted to ask the boy some questions.

Clearing her throat with a loud, "Ahem" Ao was broken from his bickering with Naruto to turn to an irritated Mei as his face paled.

"Ah! Sorry Mei-sama!" said Ao as he comically bowed to her, knees and forehead to the floor as Mei simply walked passed him.

Naruto had sweatdropped at the little exchange between the two of them, but as he saw Mei walking towards hi , the atmosphere in the room became intense.

"Little boy, what is your name?" asked Mei with a smile that Naruto almost wet his shorts with as he quickly told her,

"Naruto Uzumaki" of all the reactions he could have expected out of the woman, the one she had on her face wasn't anything he anticipated.

Her facial expressions were not hidden by any facade and were so animated that even an amature at reading expressions like Naruto could read them.

She had a look of shock, along with depression, then for some reason hope.

"Wait, you're an Uzumaki? Are you sure? Like from the Uzumaki clan?" the last part of her question grabbed Naruto's attention.

'Clan?' he thought, he never had a family for his whole only to learn he had a clan?!

"Wait, theres a clan for Uzumaki? When? I was never told I had a clan!" Mei looked surprised at Naruto and decided to let him know of his clan, it was his right as an Uzumaki to learn about his heritage.

"Yes there were a clan of Uzumaki, they were powerful fuuinjutsu masters and had long lifespans, more so than any living ninja today and was always identified by their trademark red hair" she stated when she immediately hardened her gaze at Naruto.

Wait are you sure you're an Uzumaki? Why don't you have red hair? Uzumaki have red hair not black!"

"What are you talking about? I have blonde hair!"

She then took a somewhat conveniently placed mirror that was near her and promptly shoved it into Naruto's face so he could see his reflection, when he did, he did what any 6 year old would have done, he freaked out.

* * *

AN

Sorry that this chapter is shorter than the others, but I had to attend this seminar about college with my parents and my energy was just sucked right out of me, so I hope you can forgive me for that.

Anyway please tell, me what you thought of the chapter and do whatever you want.

\- Aergaia


	7. A Woman's Wrath

Hi everyone! Here's a new chapter! But let me answer a question first!

To - **Silvermane1 **His hair changed to black in chapter 3 and I explained why in my AN, the reason he didn't see his reflection in the river's water is because he was dunking his head in without looking and because it grew dark Haku didn't tell him because she was so preoccupied in her thoughts that she had simply forgot to tell him. Hope that clears up your question.

To - **Thor94 **I'm not planning to give Naruto a bloodline but that could change, I will mainly focus on him and swords, which ones? You won't know, hell even I don't know right now :P but I have a question for everyone,

Should I give Naruto swords from other franchises? I.e. Clouds Bustersword, Excellion Blade, Masamune, Rebellion, Master Sword, Muramasa, Monado etc.

(The Exellion Blade is from an anime called "Beet the vandal buster", good anime and manga! read/watch when you have a chance!)

* * *

Naruto was panicking, Mei had given him a mirror and when he saw his reflection he freaked out and looked into the mirror to see if his eyes were playing tricks on him or if the mirror was somehow broken.

"WHAT THE HELL, WHY IS MY HAIR BLACK!?" he screamed as all the people in the room sans Haku were wincing at the sudden yell, even the guards who were stationed right outside had to cover their ears wondering what the heck was going on.

Naruto was still yelling at the top of lungs screaming about random things that no one understood, something about Uchiha bastards and Sasuke-teme, and went on until Mei, Ao and even Chojuro had enough as all of them said in unison,

"URUSAI!" and broke Naruto from his rant as he focused on the three his face still in its confused state with a hint of fear as to why his hair wasn't its usual bright blonde.

Mei, regaining her composure after her undignified little outburst asked Naruto again,

"So tell me, even though you don't have red hair, are you an Uzumaki?" she said her face once again serious with her tone of authority that would scare all men into submission, especially Ao who had been on the receiving end of it on more occasions than he would care to admit and just gave Naruto a sympathy look, despite the seriousness of the situation.

But, be it ignorance or apathy Naruto wasn't scared of her words, her power maybe but not her words and just answered,

"Yeah of course i'm an Uzumaki! Whats it to you lady?" both Ao and Chojuro paled. No one and I mean NO ONE ever spoke to Mei like that without being bodily injured or maimed in someway.

Hell, even her enemies knew what she could do and never tried to purposely anger her in fear of their manhood yet this boy had done just that.

He probably had the balls the size of basketballs, either that or he was an idiot.

"**What did you say to me?**" Mei said in that sweet tone with a smile on her face that Naruto knew all to well. The first time he ever seen it was on Ayame-neechan.

* * *

(flashback)

Naruto was bouncing up and down at the prospect of having his favorite meal once again at his favorite stand, with two people that have never shunned him when he talked to them.

He had finally gotten enough money saved up from the allowance the old man had been giving to him though for some reason for the other shops it was never enough.

Naruto had been so happy he didn't even acknowledge the glares he was receiving and happily made his way inside the stand known as Ichiraku Ramen.

Immediately a an aroma of delicious foods filled the air. Smells of chicken fish, vegetables, and

The employees only consisted of two people, a father and daughter by the names of Teuchi and Ayame.

Teuchi was a man in his mid forties while Ayame his daughter, was in her teens at age 13.

Naruto held both of them in high regard as they were the ones who had first ever shown him an act of kindness giving him his first ever ramen for free.

As Naruto moved under the shops little flaps of cloth that was used for privacy instead of having walls he made his way too a stool and jumped on it showing his big goofy smile and greeted,

"Hey Teuchi ojii-san! Ayame nee-chan!" and the two aforementioned workers turned to look at their favorite customer.

"Can you give me the miso ramen jii-san?" asked Naruto as Teuchi placed a hand on his head, smiled, and laughed.

"Do you even need to ask Naruto?" as Teuchi made a bowl of miso ramen as quick as lightning and served to Naruto who happily seemed to just somehow managed to eat the ramen as if he were inhaling air.

"Naruto don't eat like that! You'll choke to death!" Ayame had scolded the little boy on his eating habits with no apparent luck of her concerns getting through Naruto's thick skull.

Naruto lifted his bowl and drank the rest of the ramen broth and set the bowl down with a satisfied sigh.

"So how was school today Naruto?" Ayame asked as she always liked how the little boy would always be so animated in his descriptions.

"Good Ayame-nee!" Naruto happily said, "I think I might have an idea for a new jutsu!"

Now THAT got Ayame's full attention, she was no stranger nor fool when it came to ninjas as many frequented their little shop and knew how powerful justus were.

For one as young as Naruto to be able to just make one up was astounding! Her little Naruto would be a genius by the time he became a shinobi.

With obvious interest Ayame asked Naruto, "Really? What is it called and what is it going to do?"

Feeling his ego rise and his confidence at its all time high, Naruto said,

"The Oiroke no Jutsu! I would turn into a naked woman to distract ninjas!" and then, dead silence filled the area.

Ayame's respect for Naruto's smarts just took a nosedive down and went below sea level as she couldn't believe her ears, did he just say what she thought she heard?

Naruto just had on his biggest smile and was acting as if he won a million ryo at a lottery, but that all changed when for some reason he felt cold, as if the north winds decided to just come into the shop for no reason.

Then he saw it, a dark purple aura was forming around Ayame as she had a pulsing vein appear on her head and with a smile that told Naruto that immense pain would rain down upon him if he took one step out of line.

But he realized one second too late that his fate was sealed as Ayame reached for her ladle...

* * *

**Konoha Forest**

The sun was shining, and the winds were moving the trees around as the birds chirped and the bees buzzed. All the animals and wildlife were at peace with one another as equilibrium was set and nothing was there to upset the balance until...

CLANG!

"ITAI!"

"BAKA!"

(flashback end)

* * *

As Naruto saw Mei's face, he knew there was only one thing he could do,

apologize.

But the words couldn't come out of his mouth being frozen in fear of long and everlasting pain that Mei's face had promised to inflict upon him.

But luckily for Naruto a distraction was made as Haku woke up.

* * *

AN

I'm sorry if my story's tone keeps shifting, but I write these on free thought and these are not pre-planned, so sorry if its bad.

But all the same I hope you like the chapter! I might not be able to update tomorrow because me and my friend are going fishing but I will update on Saturday if god permits.

Bye guys!

\- Aergaia


	8. Seals

Hi sorry for not updating in a day, **Me** personally I just feel bad, I've been playing Team fortress 2 and Mafia 2 along with other things :P so I'm tired and stuff because I procrastinate in almost everything I do so I apologize.

I hope **thor94 **has read through the chapters because all his questions can be answered if he just read everything first.

* * *

Haku had woken from her slumber because of the racket she was hearing.

She was going to sit up and rub her eyes when she realized that she was on a metal table with leather straps and was looking around to see a frantic Naruto looking her with pleading eyes that said,

'**HELP ME! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD HELP!'**

Then Haku immediately noticed the well endowed woman standing behind Naruto and was feeling a little insecure about herself and look at Mei with envious eyes.

Mei saw the look in Haku's eyes and knew what they were saying as most women around her had those eyes when they saw her; well that and lust which was discomforting to say the least.

Thankfully it wasn't one of lust, Mei had her fair share of those women and shuddered just thinking about what they would have done if they caught her.

Everyone else In the room was wondering what was going on with her but just decided to ignore it.

"Get her out of those bindings!" Mei commanded and her two subordinates as they complied as each took the straps apart and let Haku get up but as soon as she tried to she almost fell on her face, but luckily Naruto was fast enough for her to fall into his waiting arms.

"Woah! Hey what's wrong?" Naruto asked with much concern in his voice as Ao explained,

"We both gave you a very powerful sleeping agent that would have knocked out a high ranking ninja for at least a day. Its no wonder that she would still be drowsy, speaking of which how come you aren't under its effects anymore?" Ao asked Naruto and everybody realized that he was indeed well enough to move around, and was even fast enough to grab Haku before she hit the floor.

Once again taking command, Mei asked Naruto, "So, you're an Uzumaki that didn't even know he had a clan AND doesn't have their trademark red hair? I'm still finding you to be an Uzumaki hard to believe."

Naruto replied, "I'm an Uzumaki dattebayo! I swear on my life that I am one!"

'Dattebayo?' everyone thought together at Naruto's verbal tic, Mei and Haku found it cute, while Ao and Chojuro thought it was weird.

Mei looked at Naruto and said, "Your life huh? Then prove it."

"How?" Naruto asked skeptical as he didn't know of anything short of that "blood test" that the ninjas talked about could prove his heritage.

Mei smirked and motioned for all to follow her as she activated a hidden passage via a hidden switch in the wall and walked inside, everyone else not far behind.

* * *

**Cave Gate**

Everyone came to a stop when they saw a massive gate layered with a blue ethereal forcefield that just had a single piece of paper in the center, (think of a paper seal as big as the one for Kyuubi)

Naruto recognized the paper as the character on it was exactly the same as the one on that gigantic cage.

"Hey what does that say?" Naruto asked, pointing the the paper

"Kid, if you don't know what that says then I'm REALLY not buying you being an Uzumaki." said Mei.

Naruto growled in anger at someone calling him a liar, he hated liars!

"But just to humor you, the tag there says 'Seal'"

Naruto had a thoughtful look on his face as he thought back to the cage with the huge beast inside it, he recalled the paper there on the cage and thought,

'Seal? Thats what the piece of paper said? But why was it on the cage?'

But Naruto was broken from his thoughts when Mei started talking again, her gaze on the blue glowing field covering the door.

"This door contains the entire Uzumaki's secrets. They were a once very powerful clan, with their people having lifespans longer than anyone else, the highest recorded age was at 131 years of age. They were masters in the art of fűuinjutsu, and were even rumored to be able to create the best armors and swords in histroy." Mei stated, her eyes never leaving the door.

Naruto was stunned, his clan was that cool? XAwesome! Take that Sasuke-teme! He thought as Mei spoke once again, interrupting his train of thought.

"Here is the test" she said pointing to the seal on the door, "Only a person with Uzumaki blood running through their veins can open this door, if you can't you **die**."

Naruto was stunned, he would die if he wasn't really an Uzumaki? No, of course he wouldn't! He is an Uzumaki in both blood and spirit!

"I'm not afraid of your stupid challenge! Watch I'll get it open, just you wait!" Naruto stated as he ran towards the glowing door fully confident he could get it open.

Haku was worried for Naruto, he shouldn't touch that door! Uzumaki or not its too dangerous!

But before she had a chance to voice her claims, Naruto was already at the door.

* * *

AN

Does nobody read my AN's? They answer most questions people have but for some reason, people keep asking me the same questions that I've answered, READ THESE THINGS DAMMIT.

Anyway, about thw fishing with my friend thing I said in the last chapter, we didn't catch anything :(

I was sad I couldn't kill a fish, but whatever. Anyway! Over 4000 people have seen my fic! When I was looking at it I just said "Damn! Das alot!" This site should have a filter for the views a fic has gotten, why don't they have that here? Oh well, till again!

\- Aergaia


	9. Clan Destruction

To - **SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan **HOLY CRAP YOU'RE RIGHT, EVERYONE MONOCHROMATIC EYES AREN'T THE ONES THAT ARE DIFFERENT COLORED EYES ITS HETERO-CHROMATIC, thanks for pointing that out! And who says the wave arc is dead?

To - **thor94 **To each his own I guess...

TO EVERYONE: I have realized the error of my writing ways, and I am planning to fix all the chapters that have spelling errors or like **SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan **told me, story mistakes &amp; errors though I am lazy so it might take a while.

Also I apologize for not posting in a couple of days once again because of school related stuff, anyway here is a new chapter.

* * *

Naruto approached the glowing door with anxiousness, with growing curiosity and fear at what was on the other side.

Whatever it was would be all that's left of the Uzumaki, and, Naruto's heritage.

Trembling slightly at the warning he was given by Mei, that he would die if not a true Uzumaki, he lifted a hand only to stop right before he even touched the blue field of glowing energy.

Everyone in the cave stopped breathing, wondering what was going to happen next. If he touched it, what would happen if he wasn't an Uzumaki? Would the door disintegrate him like countless others, would it launch booby traps at him, or would it react to them just being in the presence of the door?

All these thoughts flooded the heads of those in room all waiting for what was to come.

That is, until Naruto turned around and said,

"Ummm, what do I do to open the door again?" everyone face-faulted, as all were glaring bloody murder at Naruto for making them nervous.

"Kid, I think you're supposed to touch the seal." Ao said with much annoyance in his voice to the young boy.

"Oh, hehe" Naruto said with a smile and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment as he proceeded again to touch the door placing his palm on the sealing paper as the door began to react to Naruto's touch.

The cave began to shake violently surprising everyone as they fell down and the cave's ceiling began to break apart with little chunks of rock falling to the ground.

After a few minutes the ground stopped shaking letting everyone regain their bearings, and they all rose from their respective areas as they looked to where the door had been.

The door was open, but nothing could be seen on the other side as there were no lights whatsoever which gave it a creepy, ominous feeling that unsettled everyone.

Naruto was the first to get out of his stupor and walked through the doorway as if in a trance, never taking notice of a very worried Haku shouting behind him as she too disappeared into the darkness, following him.

Mei and the rest tried to pursue but were halted as the barrier flared to life again as powerful as ever, as if refusing them entry.

They could do nothing now, but wait for the two children to come back; they had to wonder though, why did the room let the other girl in too?

* * *

**Inside Cave**

Naruto was being led by some unknown force, compelling him to go deeper into the dark abyss.

Although he couldn't see much, something was pulling him towards wherever he was going, calling him to tell him something.

Haku was trailing right behind Naruto though he hadn't noticed yet and she was very nervous of being in the dark mysterious cave.

Suddenly Naruto stopped walking and Haku bumped into him, Naruto finally taking notice of the girl had raised his head, as if staring at something and said to no one,

"We're here."

No sooner than he said those words, torches around the room they were in came to life and temporarily blinded the two children as they illuminated the room.

As their eyes adjusted to the light, they looked around astonished at what they saw.

The size of the room left both children with gaping mouths as it was easily about half a mile wide and was decorated in banners that differed in color but had the same red swirl design on all of them. The walls weren't anything like the cave they went through to get here, as they had sleek smooth surfaces that looked to be pure marble. Around them were pillars for structural balance, and each pillar was decorated with the banners they saw.

The floor they were standing on had a carpet of a beautiful design that used all sorts of colors that somehow blended perfectly and did not clash making it even more outstanding. And in the middle of the room stood an altar with a massive scroll above it hanging horizontally somehow being held up by nothing.

Naruto and Haku were gaping at how huge the scroll was, as it would have easily crushed both of them if it ever fell on them, and they slightly backed away in the off-chance that could have happened.

Just then, the scroll opened itself and let a portion of its scripture down and flared to life, as if reacting to their presence and shone brightly. In a flash of light, the scroll had emitted a strange beam that was directed to the area in front of Naruto and Haku and they watched as the beam began to show the form of an old man.

He looked to be in his late 60's with long hair and a squared goatee and had on a long sleeve outfit with shinobi pants and had on armor that Naruto jad never seen before. On the shoulders of his outfit were the swirl symbols and he had on a metal headband with the same design and had two curved sword handles behind his back. (The Uzumaki Leader that Hashirama met)

The elderly man was glowing blue and looked over to the young duo.

Naruto and Haku were gaping in awe at the man, they had never seen this kind of thing happen before in their lives! A man had appeared right before their eyes from a scroll! How many people had that happen to them?

The elderly , man looked at them and gave them a chuckle with a smile adorning his face.

This eased the minds of the two greatly at the prospect that this man seemed to be kind enough to be able to laugh in such a calm way.

"So you are the two that had found this place, tell me, which one of you is the Uzumaki?"

Naruto timidly stepped forward not sure whether this guy was okay or not, for all he knew this could be some sort of trick!

The man saw how Naruto tensed up and said, "Relax boy! Haven't you ever seen a spirit before?"

Naruto almost fainted on the spot, his Jiji would always tell him spooky stories of ghosts and monsters haunting his apartment because one night Naruto thought he heard something under his bed, and Naruto, being the , man he is hid under his blankets refusing to step on the floor until his Jiji had to pry him off and tell him he truth thag it was all a joke. But since then however, everytime he heard a sound being made under his bed, Naruto would toss his blanket over his head and hid until he thought it was safe.

So it wasn't very surprising when Naruto froze on the spot with Haku poking at him to get him to respond, which made the man laugh to no end.

Breaking Naruto from his daze, he tried his best to 'glare' at the apparition but to the old man Naruto looked as if he would piss his pants.

"At ease boy, I'm not going to hurt you. Allow me to introduce myself, i am, or was, the leader of Uzumaki clan."

'HE WAS THE LEADER OF THE UZUMAKI CLAN?!' Naruto had thought in surprise, though he had to wonder whether or not if the leader was as strong as the Hokage is in Hi no Kuni.

Haku on the other hand couldn't help but stare at the spectre as she had only heard of them through her nighttime stories from her parents, and watched to see if the spirit did anything else but was wary and ready if the spirit was intent on harming them.

"My name is of no importance anymore, I am just an old relic from a long forgotten past and I am just a messenger for the new generation of Uzumaki." The man had said with slight sorrow in his voice.

"Children, what you see before you is the Uzumaki's chamber of secrets, in this area contains all that made the Uzumaki strong, in here is our history, our knowledge, and, our techniques." The man turned around giving Naruto and Haku a view of his back, his swords were broken and a massive burn mark could be seen that pierced his armor and his skin.

The burns were very severe and both children wondered who could have done this to a man of such high power and stature? Though seeing the large wound both made them feel a triflevbit queasy

The Uzumaki leader started up again while staring at the enormous scroll that he was being projected from.

"This giant scroll you see here was made with the intent of it being a contingency plan to have all that made us what we are and save it here."

He raised a hand to touch the scroll and it shined even brighter than before as it unfurled and words began to appear on the exposed parchment, glowing gold at first then turned black.

"We were attacked by a coalition of ninja that that were allies with one another, from Iwa, Kumo, and Ame. They had known of our strength and as such they deemed it necessary to eliminate us. We were still in our prime and even though we had a treaty with Konoha the Shodaime he could have never known of the coalitions impending invasion as they even took us by surprise."

Naruto was absorbing all the information, he was saddened that his clan was destroyed, but at least he knew how they went out, and he knew who took them out.

"We had thought we were protected by the whirlpools around our village so no one could invade us unless they took the dirt path. However we were too proud and arrogant at our natural defense and never thought about what would happen if it would fail."

The look on the Uzu-leader hardened as his face turned sorrowful and had a sense of anguish around him.

"We were invaded with no prior knowledge of their attack, Ame had known of our whirlpools and gave information to the other villages and they found a way to get past our defenses. They had used a combination of Iwa's Doton jutsu and Kiri's Suiton jutsu on their invading ships to create small reefs and trenches to stop our whirlpools from sinking their boats."

Seeing the confusion on Naruto's face, the Uzu-leader decided to elaborate.

"You see, a whirlpool is formed when a water current hits a barrier in its path causing the flow to turn and spin around, and if the current is fast enough, it will create a vortex, thus creating a whirlpool."

The man looked at Naruto for confirmation that he understood the information, getting a nod from the little boy, he continued to explain.

"Iwa used their **Doton: Doryūheki **(Earth Style: Earth Wall)to create walls on the oceans surface besides the barriers so that the water would flow evenly, and Ame, used their **Suiton: Kyojin Kadou **(Water Style: Giant Vortex) to counteract other whirlpools to make the water calm and still. We had believed our waters protected us, but they sealed our fate."

The leader lowered his head in shame as he cried, not showing it on his face or voice, but in his eyes, his tears. Naruto and Haku both looked at him, and for a second they didn't see the powerful leader of the Uzumaki's but a frail old man who had failed to do his duty.

"While Iwa and Ame were penetrating our waters, Kumo's army began marching up our dirt path... We were trapped... Our walls, our defenses to keep people out, had sealed us in and our people could not run or hide from our impending doom. The Kumo ninjas along with Ame's ninjas used both their jutsus together and with over 400 ninja's they manipulated the electricity in the air, and the water in the clouds to create a raging thunder storm, while Iwa's nin shook most of the foundation below us, sinking ourselves into the waters that kept us safe."

The man turned back to the children to face them once more and they saw his grief stricken face.

"...No one in the village survived the invasion... I was gravely injured by a bolt of lightning from the thunder storm they made, and my armor acted as a beacon for the attack and I was close to death, but I managed to get here, and I sealed my soul into the scroll to guide any existing Uzumaki and tell them our tale, and to teach them our ways." He said looking to Naruto who said,

"But I thought no one survived the attack?"

"True, but there were still ones who weren't in the village on missions, though they were probably genin that were teamed up with ninjas from Konoha."

Both Naruto and Haku, just stood there taking in all the information like a pair of sponges.

"They're, gone... My clan... My people... Everyone is gone..." Naruto thought aloud, and Haku looked at him in sympathy, trying to console her friend, and at this, the spirit just chuckled and wiped his ethereal tears from his eyes.

"They aren't gone young one, they will always live on as long as there is an Uzumaki, our clan will live on. And what about the girl beside you? Don't you consider her a _friend_?"

Naruto looked up to the face of Haku as he registered what the man had said, in the very little time he had known her, she had cared for him far more than anyone else had in his short life. She protected him, no one, not even his Jiji had done that! She was his first friend and he would be damned if anyone had tried to harm her.

She was Naruto's friend and as long as he was alive, he would protect her and get stronger, and, while he was at it show everyone who the hell the Uzumaki's were DAMMIT!

* * *

**Cave Entrance**

Even though hours passed, Mei, Ao, and Chojuro still remained at the cave's entrance when suddenly the barrier faded to nothingness and out came Naruto and Haku looking as they did before, but with a smile adorning their faces.

They were asked what happened in there, but in their confusion they still haven't gotten the issue of whether or not they were threats settled. Surprisingly Naruto was the one to bring up the topic yet again, as Haku explained their situation to Mei, and to her theirs, as Naruto and Ao were shouting insults at each other for kidnapping them, or for being brats.

Mei and the rest of the people here were trying to rebel against the Mizukage Yagura and his bloodline purges, to which Haku greatly supported as it was through Yagura's mentality and influence that caused her father to act the way he did. And speaking of that, Haku had told Naruto everything in the chamber and he didn't think anything else of her, he didn't think she was a monster, or a demon, but his friend.

Once they explained what happened in the cave and the Uzumaki's and Mei told their situation to Naruto, she told him that the ruins they saw above was the ruins of Uzugakure and they were in a secret passage that Ao found by sheer dumb luck using his byakugan, which he revealed to the kids.

As soon as everything was finally settled, Mei asked, "So where are you two going to go now?"

Naruto answered, "We're going to stay with you guys, that old guy still needs to teach me some awesome jutsus! And I still need to learn how to fight to protect whats precious to me!"

"You're not going to go back to your village? What about your family there?"

"The only family I had was my Jiji, and I'm sure he'll be fine without me! The rest of the villagers I don't care too much about."

Mei had an idea pop into her mind, "Naruto, Haku, would you like to help us in our rebellion? We can offer you a place to stay and we can teach you about the basic of ninjutsu and taijutsu along with some other skills that would come in handy. Come on, what do you say?"

At this both of the ebony haired kids looked at each other and nodded, they were going to help the people of Kirigakure.

"Okay" both children said and Mei gave them a smile saying, "You can stay in some rooms that Chojuro will show you to, and your training starts tomorrow, and Naruto could you stay for a second please?"

Naruto stayed behind, while a worried Haku followed Chojuro to her room.

Mei looked Naruto in the eye as she held up the broken Kubikiribocho, "Hey that's my sword!" Naruto said when Mei looked at him with seriousness in her eyes.

"Naruto, please tell me where you got this sword."

"Didn't Haku tell you? We got it from a dead guy that the Chuunin killed."

"Can you tell me what he looked like?" Mei asked with desperation in her voice that didn't go unnoticed by Naruto.

"Yeah I guess... The dude was pretty tall, even though he was sitting he was almost as tall as me! And he had these bandages around his mouth with his headband all slanted."

That settled it for Mei, she began to start cry, to which Naruto was confused and worried as he didn't know what to do.

"Wah! What did I say!?" Naruto asked her confused and uncomfortable at the proud woman who was now crying like a baby.

"That man was known as Zabuza Momochi, my lover, and the wielder of Kubikiribocho, one of the 7 legendary swords of the mist." She said hoisting the broken blade.

"That idiot..." She punched the wall beside her, and blood leaked through the broken skin on her hand. "I told him that it was too dangerous to take Yagura alone! That. Damn. Idiot!" With every outburst she punched the wall, and she slumped to the floor.

"I'm sorry... He was very dear to me... And he went and got himself killed... The fool..." Her bloodied hands covered her red eyes and let the sword fall to the floor, as Naruto went over to her and picked the sword up with ease in one hand and put it over his shoulder.

"I don't think that Zabuza guy would want to see you crying over him, I think he would want you to beat the ever living crap outta Yagura!-dattebayo!"

"But don't worry Mei-chan! I'll kick Yagura's ass to kindom come! I'll use Zabuza's sword to fight for what I believe in! For my friends! And for my precious people!"

Mei could have sworn she saw Zabuza standing next to Naruto as he lifted his sword up, the flat side of the blade in front of his face as he closed his eyes and looked as if he was praying to Zabuza, or maybe to kami, to give him their blessing, and Mei couldn't help but smile at that.

"Hey gaki, give me that blade for a sec would'ya?" Naruto opened his eyes and gave her the blade as she placed her blood covered hands on it. Which Naruto was confused at the action until he saw what the sword did next. It absorbed her blood as the blade began reform itself in its former glory, to which Naruto couldn't help but gape, Zabuza's- I mean his sword could do this!? SWEET!

Once the sword had repaired itself, she gave it back to Naruto, who almost fell down because of its weight at first but got accustomed to it very quickly.

Mei turned for the door, "Your training in kenjutsu starts tomorrow morning with Chojuro." as she left with a smile on her face leaving Naruto with his new weapon that he would use for the same intentions that Zabuza once had; to protect his beliefs.

* * *

Over the next few years, Naruto and Haku trained under the rebels guidance, for Naruto he trained in kenjutsu with Chojuro whom, despite his calm and kind demeanor and aura, was an absolute beast when it came to the ways of the sword.

Naruto never knew a guy like Chojuro could hit that hard, they had fought using their own swords to which Naruto was sent flying into a pile of debris from Chojuro's unpredictable sword **Hiramekarei** and its chakra manipulation abilities.

For Haku, she trained under Ao and Mei as both knew quite a bit of medical knowledge to help the young girl out. Haku learned about the human anatomy and grew interested in pressure points, and favored using senbon than the traditional kunai and shuriken.

When Naruto overheard one of her pressure point lessons, he too became interested and wanted to learn, they both pretty soon became proficient in the use of senbon, with Naruto having to practice his aim a whole lot more than Haku, but eventually he could throw them with deadly precision.

* * *

7 years had passed and since then both Naruto and Haku became a force to be reckoned with because now in their spars Ao needed his Byakugan and Chojuro his sword.

During one of their training exercises, specifically the water walking exercise, both Naruto and Haku were in swimming attire as both did not have adequate control of their chakra and didn't want their clothes to get wet, but in actuality their chakra control was god-awful. Naruto was wearing black swim trunks and for Haku, a blue two piece swimsuit that exposed her stomach, which made Naruto blush to no end.

However, when they were channeling chakra to their feet symbols appeared on their stomachs that they never noticed before. When they went back on land to examine them they were gone. They tried channeling their chakra again and the symbols reappeared.

They both went directly to Mei to voice their concerns about their strange markings.

It was then that they found out they were Jinchuuriki, and that brought Naruto back to the Chuunin, before he died he said the exact same word and finally Naruto knew what it meant.

He didn't know which one he had though, he just remembered the red eyes with slits behind the massive red bars with the seal on it, he never actually saw the form of the beast, while Haku had no idea what hers was.

Mei asked them for all the information they knew on their bijuu so she could help identify them. She had been studying the chakra manifested creatures because Yagura had the three tails sealed inside of him, and she did research on every bijuu and knew their traits. She did so in hopes of finding out if there were any weaknesses to Yagura, but she sadly could not find any.

Naruto told her about the red slitted eyes while Haku told her about her mysterious bubble power that only occurred when her mother died.

Mei had guessed that Naruto held the Nine-tails, while Haku held the Six-tails. She explained that the slitted eyes were in fact the fox's and Haku's bubble power was also one of the few abilities that the Six-tails was known for.

Now that they got that settled, Mei wanted for them to try contacting their Biju through meditation as she heard that Kumo's jinchuuriki of the eight tails had full control and mastery over his Biju and its power. Mei had wanted them to try and attain his level of mastery to help in their up-coming rebellion.

* * *

AN

I could have written more but I didn't want you guys to wait.

I am very sorry for leaving you guys hanging for a little over a week but that's because I had a stupid history assignment that involved a 7 page essay and a presentation along with studying for my finals and I just fuckin hated it.

Anyways, Naruto and Haku are now 13 after 7 years of training and they are as good as Haku is in canon, so basically around high-Genin low-Chuunin level, they know how to use senbon with pinpoint accuracy along with tree climbing and Naruto has his kenjutsu and Haku her Hyoton as over the course of 7 years she finally got over her fear of her power. For now only Haku knows elemental manipulation while Naruto only has his kickass kenjutsu, his brute strength and his cunning trap abilities along with his quick thinking.

I have the genin team line-up in my mind for Naruto and I'm planning to have him return to Konoha for the Chuunin exams. Why? Because I thought the Chuunin exams was the greatest arc until the invasion, I don't know why but I didn't like it as much as I should have. And I'm also not sure whether or not Naruto will become a Konoha-nin or become a Kiri-nin, to decide I might flip a coin.

The last member of the genin team is a character from the anime that was forgotten WAY too quickly and hopefully in a couple of chapters you'll see him.

Anywhooo BYE GUYS!

-Aergaia


	10. Day of Reckoning

To **Silvermane1 - **I honestly never thought about that! Great Idea!

To **almightyironman **\- The decision will be made by the decision breaking and always unbiased coin flip, but ultimately it shall be my decision. :P Who says he has to be either? what about an Uzu-nin?

To **TheRazgrizDragon **\- Thanks!

* * *

**Outside Kirigakure**

They were finally here, the day when the rebellion would be carried out and the day that Yagura's reign and tyranny would end, along with his bloodline purges.

Naruto, Haku, Mei, Ao, and Chojuro were all together with their army standing right outside the walls of Kirigakure.

Why aren't there any ninja guards attacking them?

Because they were covered with heavily chakra condensed mist, while the guards could sense someone was out there the chakra mist was around the entire village so they couldn't pinpoint the location.

The Mizu-nins were getting anxious, waiting for an attack from anywhere, but the attack wouldn't come from outside, oh no, it would come from _within_.

For you see the rebellion had dug tunnels underneath all of Mizugakure with exit and entrances in strategic locations for guerilla tactics that they were soon going to use.

Naruto, Haku, Mei, Ao, Chojuro, and the rest of the rebellion tnat wasn't keeping the chakra mist up were inside said tunnels, traversing it to the center of the village for their attack.

Everyone was completely silent on the walk and the only sounds that anyone could hear were those of their own rhythmic steps echoing throughout the caves.

Everyones was on edge for their revolution today, lord knows Naruto and Haku both shared the same feelings as everyone else.

Even though both knew that they were strong, they couldn't help but feel a little uneasy at the severity, and importance of their upcoming battle.

The more silence they walked through, the more nervous they would be, some were even expecting a surprise attack from Yagura to come from one of the tunnels.

As they finally reached their destination everyone was on edge and were less confident than they were before.

Mei saw the looks on their faces and knew she had to do something to help her comrades ease their fears and boost their confidence.

"Everyone! Be brave!" Mei told everyone with confidence as her voice echoed all throughout the caverns.

Everyone was now focused on Mei with all of their edgy and tense fears being put aside for their attention to their leader.

"Do not be afraid! We all knew this day was coming! Stand with your peers and fight like warriors! Today is the day we take our village! We fight not for personal gain, but for the benefit of our people! No longer will Mizugakure be called 'The Bloody Mist' we will make Mizu once again peaceful for all of our families!"

In return, Mei got screams and shouts of all the men and women in her army.

"YEAH! For our village!"

"For our families!"

"For my clan!"

"For our friends!"

"We will make Mizugakure a force to be reckoned with! We will show Yagura our power! And also to the rest of the hidden villages! They will know how we fought today that even our ancestors will hear of it! Lets go!"

Everyone chorused, "**HAI MEI-SAMA!**"

Their screams of confidence reached the surface and alerted the Mizu-nins of their presence. But before they could investigate or even try to stop them, rebels popped up from hidden holes all over the village.

The rebels were split into 4 groups, with 4 goals that they needed to accomplish for the battle to end in their victory.

The first group, that was outside keeping up the chakra mist was to bum rush the walls to break their defenses while the Mizu-nins were still surprised from the internal attack.

Group 2 needed to eliminate key figures and commanders to leave the ninjas without leader ship.

Group 3 needed to keep every other ninja busy until groups 1 and 2 could help them, and make sure that no one interferes with group 4.

Group 4 consisted of only 5 people consisting of Mei, Naruto, Haku, Ao, and Chojuro. They were the strongest team made up of their strongest members. They were tasked with the hardest job, to kill the yondaime Mizukage.

Mei had a plan of course, Naruto and Chojuro would accompany her in the fight, while Ao, and Haku keep any unwanted guests out.

They were on their way to the Mizukages headquarters all while the sounds of shouts and clashing metal could be heard in the background.

As they neared their destination, Mei gave a simple nod directed to Ao, and Haku, and the nodded in response and disappeared to rid the area of ninjas.

* * *

**Mizukage's Office**

Mei and her swordsmen finally reached Yagura's office and proceeded to bust down the door, the poor thing never stood a chance as it became slashed into tiny little fragments.

Mei walked into the room with Naruto and Chojuro being at their respective sides beside her and had their swords at ready.

Naruto looked around the room to find that it looked exactly like the Hokage's quarters in Hi no Kuni but with a different color scheme.

He looked forward and saw what he guessed to be Yagura, as he had never seen him in person.

Sitting there at a desk sat a small boy, he had grey hair, pink pupiless eyes with a long stitch mark going down his right eye. He wore a mesh shirt with a gray chest plate that had the Mizugakure symbol on it along with a green cloth that covered his shoulders, and his legs. Around his waist was a sky blue sash, and on his legs were shinobi pants and a pair of brown boots.

Despite his petite frame, and face, Yagura is an adult male. Naruto knew never to underestimate an enemy, mostly because Mei beat it into his skull, and he knew not to do so against someone as powerful as Yagura.

This however didn't stop him from mocking Yagurs.

"This is Yagura? Pfft! He's so short! Hey! He even looks like a girl!" Naruto exclaimed, and Mei just sighed into her hand.

Despite the intense situation, Mei couldn't help but facepalm. Throughout all 7 years she had trained with Naruto, he still never learned to shut up in serious situations.

That didn't mean he couldn't though, because on multiple occasions he could in fact keep quiet, and even somehow lose his idiocy, but it was short lived. Mei herself tried to keep him in line, but the only person that could do that effectively was Haku.

Just then, Yagura stood up, and Naruto shut up, and he once again focused on the task at hand when Yagura stated, "You're not that much taller than me, you know. and you're a little under the average height too aren't you?"

It was true, Naruto stood at 5 ft while Yagura was 4'8, over the years, Naruto grew only 3 inches and he was very sensitive about his body being, "vertically challenged" as he was 2 inches shorter than the average height for 13 year old boys.

Getting an angry tick mark, Naruto shouted, "Shut up! I'm only thirteen! I can still keep growing unlike you old man!"

At this, Yagura narrowed his eyes; and instead of causing a verbal debate, he chose to take the high road and attack.

He withdrew a staff like pole weapon with uneven sized hooks with a green flower on the larger end from somewhere underneath his desk and swung it at the three rebels as a crescent of water flew at high speeds, intent on cutting them in half.

The three moved out of they way, safe and sound but there was a 'Sizzle' sound, as Yagura looked down and saw 3 explosive kunai, that promptly blew up creating a hole in the back of his office.

* * *

**Mizugakure**

A Chuunin level Mizu-nin saw the explosion and grew concerned.

"Mizukage-sama!" but before he could go support his kage, Haku appeared before him with 3 senbon in her hand between each of her fingers as she glared at the Cuunin.

"I'm afraid you cannot go any further, leave now if you wish to continue living." Haku said in a sort of mechanical tone.

The Chuunin however wouldn't back down, he ran at Haku with a kunai drawn in one hand, and shuriken in the other. He threw the shuriken first, then tried to slash Haku with his kunai. _Try _being the key word, as he suddenly felt his entire right arm go numb, looking at his paralyzed arm, he saw 3 senbon puncturing his shoulder, bicep, and his wrist.

Before he could pull them out however, Haku launched more senbon, puncturing his other arm, but also his thighs and calves causing the man tofall on the floor face down as he couldn't move a muscle.

"Be thankful I didn't kill you, just lay there until the battle is over, until then, sweet dreams.

Before the Chuunin could inquire what she was talking about, he felt a stinging sensation on the side of his neck and immediately became unconcious.

Haku had her hand outstretched from throwing her senbon at the mans neck, and quickly disappeared to incapacitate other ninjas who were going to try and interfere with Naruto's battle.

* * *

AN

Weird place to stop I know, but I'm tired.

School sucks. That is all I have to say on that subject. Well at least for now anyways.

Welp, how did you like this chapter? Love it? Hate it? or are you in between?

Tell me in the comments and speak your mind!

Oh, and on a side note, I'm going to a convention called Fanime on Friday in San Jose, so.. yeah... WOO! FANIME!

Until again

-Aergaia


	11. Yagura's Transformation

Oh crap, I made a mistake, I called Kirigakure Mizugakure in the last chapter. Shit, oh well I'll fix that later :P I got my Fanime badge with little difficulty and that kind of pissed me off at how easy it was pre-ordering a badge compared to getting it on the day the convention starts, sooo yeah... Allow me to throw a chapter at you guys/girls.

* * *

The sounds of metal clashing against metal could be heard as the forms of Naruto and Chojuro leapt into the air both striking downward, only for Yagura to block both devastating attacks with only one hand on his staff in a horizontal position.

Sweat dripped off both swordsmen, but Yagura was calm with not a drop of sweat on him, though his clothes were slightly singed, due to Naruto's explosive kunai.

All fighters were now on top of one of Kirigakure's lake standing on the water with their chakra as they were fighting Yagura.

The yondaime Mizu-kage had little trouble swatting away Naruto and Chojuro, as both were sent skidding across the lake on their backs, but easily righted themselves, as they once again had their swords at the ready.

Mei, who was standing a little ways away from them had rushed Yagura with a steaming fog of mist trailing behind her every step. Of course, the mist never did touch her subordinates.

She closed the distance between herself and Yagura fairly quickly as she then launched the steam directly at Yagura, who used **Suiton: Suijinheki **(Water Style: Water Formation Wall) to block the incoming attack, but was blasted back as Mei energized the water molecules inside his wall causing the wall to expand from inside, causing it to explode.

Yagura gracefully flipped backwards and landed on his feet as he quickly went through handsigns and shouted **Suiton: Teppōdama! **(Water Style: Liquid Bullet) as he drew in a breath, chest expanding as he exhaled a ball of water that was larger than his entire body headed directly at Mei.

The water bullet quickly zoomed across the lake, leaving a back-draft strong enough to split the water with its speed. Mei stood firm and inhaled herself, and her chest also expanding, more so than it already was, and shouted, **Yōton: Shakugaryūgan no Jutsu! **(Lava Release: Scorching Stream Rock Technique) and out of her mouth came a flaming ball of fire that had a sphere of earth inside of it, heated to molten levels, and its size and shape matched Yagura's own.

The two attacks had clashed at each other, both fighting for dominance as if they were alive, as neither moved in their respective positions which looked as if the attacks froze in midair then the two opposing forces fused together and caused another explosion with chunks of Mei's once melted but now solid rock in all directions.

Both parties scattered as they dodged the little projectiles, well, all except for Naruto who blocked it with his sword.

'Gah! God Dammit! I have to remind myself to work on my speed again with Haku-chan.' thought Naruto as he blocked more of the flying rocks with the side of his blade.

Once that was over, Naruto looked around to see Chorjuro and Yagura attacking each other, their movements so fast that their weapons couldn't even be seen except for a blur to the untrained eye. The two parted and Mei dashed over with her **Y**ō**ton: Yoroi** (Lava Release: Armor) a technique where she covers every inch of her body in molten rock from head to toes giving her both a deadly offense and an unparalleled defense.

As she ran over, the water steamed with every step but her lava never cooled down, still being as hot as ever, she charged at Yagura and engaged him with taijutsu.

Mei was an incredibly skilled fighter, evidenced by some burns Yagura was now sporting as she utilized her Lava armor to create small globs of magma to shoot whenever she threw a punch or kick. While Yagura was fast enough to block her attacks with his staff, he wasn't fast enough to dodge the incoming lava, and she gave no time for him to react.

Yagura had knocked Mei back with his staff like a baseball and they both looked at each other with intense stares.

"You're very talented, not many are able to injure me as much as you have." The Mizu-kage taunted, because the damage Mei had done, all of his burns and wounds had all but dissipated with his skin being as flawless as when they started, the only things reminiscent of his injuries was the steam coming from his once injured body.

"Awww what the hell!? Didn't that do anything!?" Naruto complained, as he and his other two comrades regrouped together.

"Quiet Naruto, we just have to hit with something he can't recover from, besides, those burns were paper cuts to him, we need to beat him down so he won't be able to heal." Mei stated.

"Do you even think you can accomplish that with the pathetic excuse of power you rebels have?"

Everyone froze as bloodlust permeated the air. They looked towards Yagura who was now surrounded by a massive display of red chakra, not unlike Naruto's, and his body was slowly transforming as tails sprouted out behind him.

The demonic aura was pungent, as was Yagura's killing intent. It was so powerful that even the wildlife in the water couldn't take it, as numerous fish floated up to the waters surface and were spasming as they couldn't use the muscles in their body to intake the water through their gills. In other words, they were literally choking at Yagura's intangible strength. So how powerful would the physical strength be?

Pretty damn powerful.

Yagura was now sprouting 3 tails, all of which were scaly and were grey on top and pink on the bottom along with sharp scales at the end.

But the thing that caught everyone's attention was Yagura himself who didn't even look like a human anymore as his hair was now a scaly grey and his entire face covered by a mask of a superhardened shell giving his head protection and also making it look akin to a helmet.

His "helmet" covered all sides of his face except for his eyes. The opening for them let everyone see that Yagura's face turned into a rough pink, and one of his eyes was closed, the one with the stitches.

His clothes were being encased in spiky armor, the green cloths covering his shoulders and legs turning grey and spiky, the points looking as sharp as a razor. His armor became covered in the same grey shell the rest of his body had, and his legs too. His hands and feet became pointed and shell encased also has his fingers also had the same razorsharp qualities as his armor but only had three fingers instead of five. The same could be said for his toes.

All in all he looked like a badass,

The real fight started now.

* * *

AN

Hi guys! Sorry for the delay, Fanime really took it out of me. I have never been this tired in my life!

Anyways, about Yagura's transformation, I loved the bijuu cloak when it was on Naruto but I was severely disappointed at Kishimoto when he wasn't original for the other Jinchuuriki, making them all have the same exact cloak. So I'm going to give each and every Jinchuuriki their own kickass transformations, but I'm not sure whether or not to give one to Naruto because I think his Biju cloak looks badass already.

Oh well whatever,

Anyways see ya later guys!

-Aergaia


	12. Hope for Victory

at **Silvermane1 **\- I find it weird to myself how one word can make my day. :D

Man am I a lazy mofo, anyways heres a chapter!

* * *

"Shit"

That was all Naruto could say, and who could blame him? Yagura was now a fully transformed three tailed beast.

Well, one in a human form anyway, well... as human it could get.

"Holy tits!" (I tend to say this a lot because its funny, I am sorry if I offend anyone) Naruto said as he managed to block one of Yagura's attacks with the side of blade.

Yagura's transformation not only changed his appearance, but obviously his abilities too. Naruto had no idea where the hell he was when he moved, and he could barely keep up when he could!

"**HAHAHAHAHAHAHA**!" A maniacal laughter came from the Mizu-kage, his arms at his sides extended outward and his head cocked back as he looked towards the sky.

"Magnificent isn't it? This isn't anything like a simple Biju cloak, this gives me all the power of my Biju without having me transform in to the Biju!" Yagura was probably smiling behind his shell mask but it couldn't be seen except for the sneer in his eyes.

Naruto knew they were screwed, how in the holy mother of balls were they going to beat this guy?

He looked to Mei and Chojuro and saw they were worried about this just as much as he was. Naruto needed to figure out a weakness in his armor and charged.

With Kubikiribocho he made for a diagonal slash hoping to find some type of problem with his **Biju Armor. **

But when Naruto's blow struck true, right into Yagura's temple, he was expecting anything except for what had happened.

Even though Kubikiribocho was being powered by Naruto's chakra, and being swung as hard as it could, when it clashed with Yagura's head it did absolutely nothing.

Naruto had put all of his power into that swing but Yagura's helmet wasn't even damaged by Naruto's attack, his head didn't even MOVE.

Yagura simply stared at Naruto with boredom in his eyes as he said, "Was that supposed to do something, or did you do anything at all?"

Naruto seethed, He needed to come up with another plan of attack, he jump back away from Yagura and was going to come up with another plan until he saw Yagura disappear in a burst of speed.

Even though Naruto never saw him, the water that Yagura traveled on came burting upward because of the back-draft vacuum that Yagura created as he ran over the water.

When he did reappear in from of Naruto, Yagura's eyes displayed an emotion of glee at the prospect of hurting the adolescent.

"My turn."

Yagura hit Naruto's side with one of his tails, causing him to skip over the water at high speeds, but Yagura was faster. He then ran over to Naruto who was in mid-skip and proceeded to smash his hands, which were in an interlocked position, into Naruto's stomach, sending him down into the lake.

He then placed a hand on top of the waters surface and shouted, "**Suiton: Goshokuzame!**" (Water Release: Five Feeding Sharks)

Yagura sent chakra from his five fingers into the water, which resulted in the creation of five water sharks whom set their sights on the prone form of Naruto, still recovering from Yagura's attack.

The sharks made a circle around Naruto and swam at intense speeds, the raging stream they made denied Naruto of his movement. Then at random intervals, one or two sharks would stray from their circle to attack Naruto, their razor sharp teeth cutting into his flesh at they bit him. His clothes were being torn as blood ran freely through his open wounds, his air was running out too as he exhaled accidentally when they attacked.

Mei and Chojuro saw his blood come up to the surface and ran over the water to save their apprentice, until they were stopped by Yagura, who had his arms crossed with his staff on his back.

He stared at the two, as if daring them to take a step forward, his chakra was visible and so dense, one could think you could cut it with a knife, or in this situation a sword.

Chojuro attacked Yagura with Hiramekarei as he emitted chakra through its two holes making his sword have a longer reach with a deadlier blade. He engaged Yagura shifting through Hiramekatei's various forms and nodded towards Mei.

She knew what he was implying and ran over to Naruto's location.

Chojuro set his sights back on Yagura who was still cool as a cucumber, and simply motioned for Chojuro to attack, which he did.

As Chojuro stuck, Yagura simply blocked with his arms, sparks could be seen every time his sword made contact with his shell.

Hiramekarei's form changed into a hammer and Chojuro kept striking at Yagura who still blocked with his arms, when his armor began to crack, though as little and as insignificant it might have looked, one fact was proven,

Yagura could be beaten.

* * *

AN

Sorry for the retardedly late chapter, the school years coming to an end and finals are coming up :( ARGH I HATE THIS!

My senior friends are leaving and I am sad to see them go, but what can you do.

Anyways, remember to review because when you review that makes me happy! I don't know why it just does, roll with it.

I'll try to make another chapter, but its the last week of school tomorrow so I'll do my best.

-Aergaia


	13. Those to Protect

**Kirigakure: Lake**

Naruto gritted his teeth, he was slowly losing consciousness from lack of oxygen. His brain was shutting down, he was losing blood, and his body was burning, practically screaming at him for more air.

The worse thing was, he was a sitting duck, the sharks from Yagura's **Suiton: Goshokuzame **(Water Release: Five Feeding Sharks) were still active, and were still ripping Naruto to shreds. The vortex they were making as they swam in perpetual circles around Naruto were too strong for him too move.

'What am I supposed to do!?' our hero yelled in his mind, his eyes were getting heavier by the second. He had been in the water for about 5 minutes now, it had been some sort of miracle he could have even held his breath that long.

The sharks kept attacking, left and right, up and down, and front and back, and he could do nothing about it.

Something abruptly stopped the monotony of the attacks as all the sharks violently exploded. The explosion managed to push Naruto out of the water and above its surface, where he fell into the waiting arms of Mei.

"Are you alright kid?" she asked with obvious concern. The swordsman coughed, expelling the water from his lungs, as he then filled them with much needed oxygen.

*GASP* "Huff, huff... That teme..." Naruto said, panting as he needed to get his breath back and Mei looked at him with smile.

"Yep, you're fine. Can you get up?"

"Huff... Yeah, I can, where's Chojuro-sensei?"

Mei simply pointed to where Chojuro was still fighting Yagura, both matching each other blow for blow, an amazing feat for the shy swordsman, he had never seen him like this before.

In Naruto's spars, he never seemed to acting as he was now. Chojuro had a look of confidence, he kept wailing on Yagura without reservation, and every time he attacked, Yagura could only block, and the cracks on his arms grew bigger and bigger.

"Whoa, when did Chojuro-sensei become so powerful?" Naruto said, awe in his voice at his teacher's ability to keep up and even overwhelm Yagura.

Somehow Chojuro managed to hear his students question and answered, "The more confident you are the stronger the strike."

He then enlarged Hiramekarei's blade to create a gargantuan chakra sword and quicker than the eye could blink, cut Yagura in his midsection, breaking off his armor as well as drawing a massive amount of blood from the Mizukage.

"I had to cut him down anyway." Chojuro said as Yagura fell down into the water.

Chojuro had breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that it was over and powered down Hiramekarei and turned to face his leader and his student.

Naruto was slack jawed and began shouting, "That was amazing Chojuro-sensei! You gotta teach me how you did that!"

Feeling as if the worst was over, Naruto ran over to congratulate his teacher on his victory while Mei was not far behind wanting to congratulate her subordinate.

However, as they were making their way over, a burst of water came up from behind Mei with astounding force. The cause was YAGURA still very much alive, albeit hurt. He was bleeding from his stomach and most of his armor on his front and forearms were broken showing random shards place above his arm and torso.

His hands were still clawed and before Mei could turn around, he thrust his arm forward.

Blood was splattered over the water...

But it wasn't Mei's, it was Chojuro's, he had crossed the distance to protect Mei with a shunshin and was holding up Hiramekarei on it flat side to shield them both.

Unfortunately the Sanbi Jinchuuriki's attack proved too much for the legendary sword as his hand went straight through its side, causing fractures and cracks but not enough to break or destroy the blade.

Yagura's attack had managed to get through to Chojuro and it pierced the left side of his chest and came out to his back where Yagura's bloody hand was.

The Mizukage viciously yanked his claw out, much to Chojuro's pain and jumped back, away from the goggles wearing teen.

Said teen was gripping at the hole in his chest and was panting heavily as his breathing became labored and stricken with blood, apparently Yagura had punctured a hole in his lung, a massive hole at that and Chojuro's legs gave out under him as he fell forward.

He would have sank into the water if not for Mei who had a horrified expression on her face.

"Why... Why did you get in the way!?" Mei yelled, with frustration in her voice. How could she have been so careless! She should have known that Yagura was still alive, she should have been able to counter-attack, but she had let her guard down at the cost of Chojuro.

"I... will do everything... to protect that smile on our gentle leader..." The swordsman said with a smile on his face "I hope I did_..."_

Then, his chest stopped rising and his eye closed.

"Chojuro? Chojuro! CHOJUROOO!"

Mei began to cry and hug his body, not caring if her clothes became dirtied by blood.

However, behind her, Naruto was also crying, and his eye glowed red, as did his body.

* * *

**Kirigakure:** **Village**

Haku was always somehow spiritually aware of Naruto's well being; hanging around him all the time gave her a type of awareness for her fellow dark haired boy's state of health.

To say she was concerned would be an understatement, she felt uneasy and agitated and downright distressed.

She was in the middle of taking care of multiple shinobi with her kekkei genkai when she felt a pang of dread and knew something was wrong with Naruto.

Haku looked in the direction of the lake where she could feel a powerful chakra spike, and could only hope for her friend to be okay as she reengaged the Kiri-nins once again with the assistance of Ao.

* * *

"HAHAHA! What an idiot! Protect a smile? How pathetically stupid! He could have prolonged his life if he just stayed put!"

Yagura was reveling in his triumph, he managed to kill the fool that actually managed to cut him!

His victory was short lived when a fist slammed into the side of his head breaking his entire helmet.

"Argh! Who the hell did that!?" Yagura said when he managed to regain his bearings.

Standing before him, was Naruto, his entire form was covered in his Bijuu's chakra cloak.

"**I did"** Naruto said to Yagura, "**Don't worry though, I'm just getting started"****  
**

* * *

I am very sorry about the week long update, and I can't blame it on school anymore, it was just pure laziness.

So how did you like the chapter? Tell me in your review your honest opinion,

Also in the future for Naruto's clothes what should they look like? I still REALLY like Menma's clothing except for the no shirt thing but I want to hear your opinions, what should he wear?

Also 20,000 words. Can't wait for over 100,000

Thats it for now

-Aergaia


	14. The Fight Continues

Naruto wasn't angry, he wasn't pissed, no, he was **absolutely livid.**

In his fury, he managed to gain access to his volatile **Chakra Cloak **and was promptly kicking Yagura's ass with three of his bijuu's tails.

'Grrr, impossible!' the Sanbi Jinchuuriki yelled in is mind, he could not say it vocally as Naruto never even gave him time to open his mouth.

To be more specific, Naruto was whacking Yagura away at high speeds while somehow managing to hit him as he flies through the air. (Think of Lee's fight in the Chuunin exams against Gaara) Mei was watching with awe at Naruto's sudden burst of power but the mixture of blood lust and rage that came off from him seemed to fuse with Yagura's creating heavy tension around them; and it was so incredibly thick that Mei had difficulty breathing and she had to retreat back to land.

She had brought along Chojuro's body and placed him gently on the cool grass and kneeled down to see the extent of Yagura's attack.

Chojuro's sword Hiramekarei had sunk into the lake unfortunately and Mei could not get it because of the fight.

His lung was punctured, and there was a hole in his chest, he wasn't breathing anymore either. He as still as the ground he was lying on.

Mei again became overcome with sadness and put a hand on Chojuro's face, only to find that it was still warm.

Could it be?

She quickly put her head onto his chest, and sure enough his heart was still pumping, slow and weak, but still pumping, and that's all that mattered. Mei quickly surveyed the damage once again and did what she could to help her colleage.

Mei was by no means a medic-nin, but she had more knowledge on the subject than anyone else, aside from Haku, and right now, she was the only one who could save Chojuro.

'Naruto, I can't help you in this battle, please win, and be safe...'

He was up against the Mizukage, she knew that was dangerous, but right now, the only one who could match Yagura's power, was Naruto.

Mei rolled up her sleeves and began to work on Chojuro's wound.

She then rolled up her sleeves and began to work.

* * *

Back to the fight with Yagura, Naruto kicked the side of his face in with a powered round house kick, and proceeded to engage him with his sword.

Yagura took out his staff and began to block all of Naruto's strike, however with each block he was being pushed back further and further.

'This, this cannot be! How is this boy more than 10 years my junior able to force me back!?'

Naruto then raised Kubikiribocho over his head and smashed Yagura's staff repeatedly in downward smashes, Yagura could do nothing but attempt to stop Naruto from his barrage.

'NO! I can't lose here! Not to this boy!' The Mizukage frantically thought and inwardly forced more of his Bijuu's Chakra into his system.

"RAAAAAA**AAGGGHHHH**"

Dense blue chakra was expelled from Yagura's body in the form of a sphere and knocked Naruto away.

When he recovered, he realized that the chakra Yagura was still releasing was so thick, it covered every inch of his body, not showing anything to the naked eye.

Naruto knew, even in his enraged state that something was wrong; he rushed back to Yagura, sword in hand and struck at the chakra-dense covered kage.

To his surprise, the sword struck true, what was unsettling was that Yagura not only had his Bijuu armor back, but now it had a chakra cloak, much like his own but instead of being clear like his was, it was thicker, saturated with chakra, so much in fact it looked as if it was **solidified**. (Think of Naruto's 4 tails mode, but blue, and in the shape of armor)

Our hero's sword was being caught, and held between the fingers of Yagura's hand who didn't show any signs of letting go.

The Yondaime Mizukage launched a fist at Naruto's unprepared face, the hit catapulted him away where he immediately backflipped into a feral position with all four of his limbs touching the water.

Yagura did some handseals and shouted "**Suiton: Uramiame!**" (Water Release: Grudge Rain)

Dark clouds appeared over the water, and it rained, HARD.

Even though they were little droplets of water it felt like little water bullets made of ice. Naruto could not even evade because of the widespread area of the attack.

Thankfully the technique could not reach Mei and Chojuro, apparently the cost of chakra for this particular jutsu was massive, so much that Yagura was actually breathing heavily. And that meant trouble for Naruto.

He couldn't escape the rain, that much was certain, but the little projectiles were only a minor annoyance so he began to once again engage Yagura in close quarter combat.

Naruto launched himself from his crouching position, his speed making waves of water appear as he sped over to Yagura. Using both Kubikiribocho and a clawed hand, he attacked the weary Mizukage, while Yagura again blocked with the best of his ability.

This went on for about five minutes, when Naruto realized something strange, he was tiring out! Somehow the roles had been reversed, as they parted from their blows, Yagura stood tall and proud while Naruto was wheezing and panting, his chakra cloak barely being kept intact.

"Whats... Happening...? Why am I so tired all of a sudden?" Naruto said, much desperation and confusion in his voice.

The smile Yagura had grew wider, and with arrogance he answered the teen, "You see this rain?" He said pointing to the continuous downpour of his technique.

"Yeah, what about it?" Naruto voiced, the rain was hurting even more than before! Wait! It couldn't be! Naruto eyes widened in surprise and Yagura's ever growing smirk grew so wide, one could say he was happy.

"Oh figured it out didya? **Suiton: Uramiame** (Water Release: Grudge Rain) is a technique used to sap away enemy chakra! Normally this would be used by multiple shinobi in a group due to sheer chakra size alone! I had to scale it down to conserve my chakra supply, but by now it seems you're running empty now no?" Yagura watched the black haired teen prepare to strike again, only to fall face flat on the water his chakra cloak gone.

"What!? My... My cloak!" Naruto exclaimed in surprise and dread,

"HAHAHAHAHA! Seems i was right! You have no power left! The left over chakra you have remaining is all you can do to keep yourself atop the water!"

Yagura then calmly walked over to Naruto's prone body and raised a hand, which glowed a dark blue.

"When you see your friend in the afterlife, I want you to explain how you **failed" **

The Sanbi Jinchuuriki swiped his hand down with full intention of it being used to smash Naruto's brain, only to be met with nothing but water.

The resulting force pushing the water down then back up again in a great geyser.

"What!? How could he move in his condition!?" Yagura frantically looked around when his eyes found a crystallized mirror with both Naruto, Haku and Ao in front of it.

The cavalry had arrived.

* * *

AN

HOLY CRAP I am sorry for the long wait for only 1000 words, I PROMISE the next one will be at least 7,000

There was just so much crap going on during my summer that its crazy, but I won't bother you with the details.

So how'd you like/dislike this chapter? Aside from length please tell me what was good and/or bad with it!

-Aergaia


	15. The Battle Ends, But the Wave Arc Begins

To **NaruCrazy **\- I appreciate your concerns involving the story, THIS IS THE CRAP I'M TALKING ABOUT, I NEED CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM. I will not incorporate his ability in this chapter because i forgot to, but thank you for your concern. :P

To **Strife666 - **Always a pleasure to read your comments on the chapters.

Here you go. read.

* * *

"H-Haku? Is that you?" Naruto said, boy had she come at the right moment! If she was a second too late, Naruto was pretty sure his head would have been bashed into a gory bloody mess.

"Who else would I be Naruto-kun?" Haku stated.

"Never mind. How are you here?" Naruto asked. Haku and Ao were supposed to keep unwanted nin from interrupting their fight.

"All of the rebels managed to subdue the Kiri-nin, some were willing to cooperate and surrendered, others... Fought to the death." Haku was sorrowful at the last part, death had a massive influence on her and Naruto. She had never liked killing and would always avoid doing so to enemies whenever possible as she did with the Kiri-nin.

She knew death was never unavoidable, especially in their line of work, but she would never kill without reason. And Naruto knew this all too well...

Breaking them from their conversation was the sounds of Yagura's battle with Ao who had a kunai in his hand. He could not touch Yagura's **Armored Cloak** as he knew the consequences of doing so, he had seen many allies die from just coming into contact with the volatile chakra so he needed to keep a distance.

Though Ao's eyepatch was on, his Byakugan was active, as could be seen from the bulging veins around his eye.

Ao weaved through handsigns, and yelled "**Suiton: Senkō Sakumetsu**" (Water Release: Submerged Shark Scraping Destruction)

Yagura was lifted up into the air by water sharks that were manipulating the water underneath him and was restricting his movement.

Naruto realized his cue, Ao had done this technique multiple times with Chojuro and Naruto, the water holds the target up and it was their job to smash them down. The raven haired swordsman gripped his sword, leapt into the air, and with a a full front flip used his whole body along with its momentum to slash Yagura down who cried in pain.

Unlike Yagura's Five Feeding Sharks, this technique worked in collaboration effort as displayed and was supposed to disorient the target somewhere close to unconsciousness and the sharks below would handle the rest, which they did.

The sharks were relentless in attacking Yagura, blood could be seen seeping out of his **Armored Cloak**, but that wouldn't last long.

Under the water, Yagura infused the water around him with his chakra and performed the necessary handseals, until he mentally said

'**Suiton: Daibakuryū!**' (Water Release: Great Waterfall Flow) which caused the water around him to spin

Not only did he manage to destroy Ao's sharks, but he also managed to spin the water at such high speeds that me managed to make a violent spinning whirlpool.

All three rebels were surprised of his violent spinning that pretty soon they were sucked into the spinning vortex, and they all would be helpless in the water against Yagura.

* * *

Inside the lake, Naruto, Ao, and Haku were all trying to get back up on top of the water since Yagura's torrent stopped. They were all swimming upwards when suddenly they were attacked by Yagura who was propelling himself with his three tails and struck each of them with his staff.

Then, the Mizukage summoned two water clones, and they all set their sights on their target to beat them relentlessly.

* * *

Yagura's speed was unmatched in the water, somehow his body cut through the liquid and allowed him to move fluidly through it with now problem.

And that was bad for our team of heroes as each were getting pummeled by Yagura's attacks, all of them sporting bad bruises and cuts, to make matters worse.

They needed air.

Yagura didn't need to resurface for air because his Bijuu allowed him to survive in water with as little oxygen as possible and Haku's also to some extent, but the fact of the matter was, if they didn't get out of the water, they'd **die.**

Haku, had enough of Yagura she blew from her mouth a bubble, not a normal bubble, but one the size of tree, this bubble encased herself, Naruto, and Ao, and lifted them from the water's abyss, but not before Naruto managed to acquire Hiramekarei which was sitting on the lakes floor.

Once the bubble brought them back, it popped and left the three of them to regain their breaths. Yagura, appeared as he slowly came up from the water glaring at the three of them.

"You know, I've never had this much trouble with peons such as yourself. In fact... I think you deserve a **reward.**" They way he said reward chilled them all to the bone, just then, his **Chakra Cloak** vanished, leaving him in his **Bijuu Armor**, and his body **grew.**

The Yondaime Mizukage got on all fours as his body changed into that of his bijuu, the **Three Tails **

"Oh" Haku started, "Crap" Naruto finished.

The thing was ENORMOUS! Easily dwarfing mountains! Is this what a Bijuu looked like?

"**HAHAHA! How do you like me now!?" **Yagura said, his voice seemed distorted as if two voices were speaking at the same time.

The Bijuu struck, using one of its tails, slammed into Ao who guarded against it but was lifted off his feet and went through at least 10 trees before stopping at the last one and coughed up blood.

"Ao-Sensei!" Both Naruto and Haku shouted with concern for their teacher.

The Beast then raised a clawed hand and prepared to attack the two, until a large lava wave, even bigger than the Bijuu itself washed over it and concealed all but its head in molten rock that hardened into a makeshift prison.

Both teens looked at the attacks origin and found Mei who was standing (barely) near a patched up Chojuro who seemed to be sleeping, which didn't go unnoticed by Naruto, who was relieved that his other sensei seemed to be okay.

Mei fell to one knee, that huge attack had used up almost all of her reserves! Fixing up Chojuro took quite a bit of chakra because she used a bastardized version of the Mystical Palm Jutsu (That green glowy hand thing medic-nins use) while not as effective or as controlled, her version took up more chakra and at the cost of efficiency came with the power of high-speed cell regeneration, said to be on par with Tsunade's **Creation Rebirth **but could only be used in desperate situations with it having a 25% chance of success.

Luckily for Chojuro she succeeded.

Mei knew that the cooled earth prison would break soon so she needed to act fast. She could no longer battle, or she would face Chakra exhaustion so she had to leave the fate of the rebellion with her two students.

She threw a talisman at Haku who caught it with care and yelled "QUICKLY! USE THAT ON ITS FOREHEAD!"

Haku nodded in understanding she summoned her mirrors and proceeded to jump between them in quick succession until she managed to stick the talisman on the beasts forehead as its eyes widened in fear and cried in pain.

"**AAAARRGGGHH! What... IS THIS!? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME!? MY POWER IS ****BE**ING DRAINED!" The distorion in Yagura's voice stopped and his body grew smaller into that of his original form.

The earth that once covered the Bijuu crumbled and all that was left was the three tails, literally a shell of its former self, its Coral armor appeared so brittle that even a little touch would break it off.

Mei spoke up wanting to answer Yagura's final question before he died. "The rebels and I searched for a seal that would temporarily weaken a Bijuu. The only ones to actually make such a seal were the Uzumaki Clan, luckily they had sealed their knowledge in a scroll before they passed on and with some seal masters we had recreated their work. The seal would only work when a Bijuu is released so we needed to have you transform for it to work, thanks by the way." Mei said with a wink.

Naruto raised both Hiramekarei and Kubikiribocho in ready position and jumped at the once ferocious beast and struck.

He landed on the other side of the Bijuu with no apparent changes to either of them, that is until the once proud beast and powerful Kage began to crack, the entire Bijuu crumbled and pieces of it fell apart, it even caved inward, as if there was nothing inside. Every single piece once it touched the water dispersed and became a beautiful array of glistening chakra, the entire shell of the beast burst into a magnificent shine that sparkled in the sun.

AN:(If you thought the plot device seal/jutsus were bad I am sorry)

* * *

**2 Months After the Rebellion**

The sun rose on the horizon, its beautiful glistening rays peered into the window of one Naruto Uzumaki.

As the beam of light reached through his window and onto his eyes he spoke,

"Why..." He started looking up at the sunrise, "Why did you... HAVE TO COME UP YOU BASTARD!" He yelled outside his window until some generous citizen threw a can at his face to make him shut up.

"Ugh... what's today? Friday? No wait that was yesterday... Saturday! Thats it! Wait... Thats right! Today's the day I can finally become a Ninja!" Naruto was so ecstatic he left his house without putting on his clothes which left him in only his boxers and an animal nightcap that was given to him by Haku as a birthday gift.

However, when he went outside practically naked shouting "I'm gonna be a Ninja!" another can hit his face, probably from the same generous citizen and a shout was heard saying "Put on some pants you freak!"

Naruto looked down and blushed as he tried to cover what was left of his modesty as he went back into his house.

The house mentioned was a two story building with 7 rooms 2 bathrooms and a kitchen; it was abandoned and broken until Naruto and Haku fixed it.

Naruto got into his room and put on his new ninja clothes. A dark blue-grey robe with grey lining and a fur collar, and a tattered grey-blue cape emblazoned with his personal emblem: a mandala comprised of nine reddish-brown circles of varying sizes atop a larger green-grey circle. Beneath which he wore a black sleeveless shirt tucked into his pants, fingerless opera-length black gloves wrapped in studded red-brown leather straps, baggy black pants, and red-brown sandals

(Menma Uzumaki's outfit with a shirt and no mask. yet.)

Once he got dressed, Naruto headed into the kitchen when his stomach began to shout at him to eat with a low gurgle. When he got into the kitchen he was met with Haku who had her long hair hanging loosely, and wore a pink, sleeveless kimono, with pale red edges and decorated with small plum-coloured swirls, that went to her ankles. A black choker around her neck, and around her waist was a simple white obi tied in a bow, and he wore a pair of light brown sandals with dark straps.

(Her appearance when she met Naruto in canon)

Haku was living with him as per her wish as the two had never been separated for long. They had been seen together anywhere, to those that knew them, wherever one was, the other wasn't too far behind. Much to their embarassment, all the adults thought it was cute, and were wondering when their wedding was going to happen which made both of them blush, but that type of notion was ridiculous! Wasn't it?

Naruto's face grew a little red looking at Haku; she was cute in her kimono, who could blame him? Naruto sniffed the air a pleasant aroma filled his sinuses, it was Haku's cooking.

Over the years in the rebel base, Naruto and Haku both hunted for food, and they both made the food. Quite literally they were the food providers of the rebel faction, not because they were the only sources of food, but because their cooking was so damn good!

All the rebels agreed that their cooking was the best around, some even said that if ninja work wasn't cut out for them they should open a restaurant!

Naruto's mouth drooled at the prospect of eating Haku's food. Although he could make some delicious things himself, both he and Haku enjoy it when one cooks for the other, which was the case now.

Haku was making broiled fish, an omelet, and miso soup, a typical breakfast, but the _way _it smelled made it seem as if it was something more.

Turning around to put her cooking on the table, she saw Naruto just standing a few feet from her in a trance, mouth open, with a little bit of drool coming off the side of his lips.

She giggled into her hand as she got a small hankerchief and wiped the drool away with a smile on her face. Naruto looked away as he blushed in embarrassment, 'Aww man! I had drool coming out of my mouth! That was so uncool...' Naruto just sulked with his head down. Haku giggled at his funny antics and motioned for him to sit.

When they both took their seats, side by side, Naruto took a bite of the broiled fish and held a hand to his face as he smiled while chewing. "Mmmm! Haku you're a great cook! You can make something as boring as fish taste amazing! I just wish you could cook me some ramen some more."

Haku looked at her dear friend and began to scold him, "Naruto, remember what the doctors said? If you keep eating ramen you'll never grow to your full height." Naruto looked a little sad, not because Haku scolded him, in fact the girl didn't even seem to have a mean bone in her! Haku's scolding was more akin to when a mother would tell her child to not do something. (Both Naruto and Haku are 13 and are around the height Haku was in Canon with Naruto being slightly Taller than Haku)

He was sad because he couldn't have his ramen as much as he wanted; he had cut down on it to make sure he could grow faster, but that didn't mean he stopped eating it altogether. He would jump at the first chance when he could to eat ramen.

Haku noticed his sad look and felt a little bad, she said "...Maybe if you're good i'll cook some ramen for dinner tonight."

Words, no science could not explain what just happened next. Naruto no longer felt sad, and somehow, faster than any creature, technique or object known to man, he hugged Haku and kissed her on the cheek.

"Really!? Haku I could just kiss you!"

'You already did.' Haku thought with a blush unconsciously rubbing the place he kissed her, apparently Naruto had completely forgotten he had kissed her cheek with thoughts of ramen filling his head.

Once they both finished their breakfast Haku got dressed into her shinobi gear, unlike Naruto, she knew today was their official inauguration as ninja. Her shinobi outfit consisted of the standard Kirigakure pinstriped outfit which stopped at her knees. Over this she wore a green haori with white trimmings, and around her waist a brown sash with a fringed trail wrapped around her waist twice. She also wore light-brown platoon sandals with straps in the same colour as her kimono and nail polish on her fingernails and toenails in matching blue green colour. When wearing this outfit, Haku's long hair was gathered in a white bun holder, while two locks of her hair fell loose framing her face, bound with metal hair cuffs at the ends.

(Haku Canon ninja appearance)

Once she was set up, Naruto got Kubikiribocho and put it on his back, and both walked through the village going towards the Mizukage tower.

The village was in repair because of damages from the rebellion, but after two months of non-stop reconstruction, the damaged were almost nonexistent. There were still buildings with wooden frames and no walls still being constructed, but other than that everything was structurally fine.

The people however were a different story; when word got out to previous Kiri citizens that the rebellion had won, they returned to Kirigakure happy, but still unsure of the change that took place. For them it was hard to imagine their village being so peaceful and safe.

* * *

**Mizukage Tower**

Naruto and Haku finally got over to the Kage tower and went inside where they could see Mei in all her glory with a Mizukage hat with Ao standing at her side sweating profusely because Mei was glaring at him.

"What did 'Oji-san' do today?" Naruto asked, genuinely curious as to why Ao was so scared. Though not scared enough to not glare at him. Ao hated it when Naruto called him Oji-san, it made him feel old, well, older than he actually was.

"The reason Naruto" Mei addressed, "as to why I'm mad, is because Ao made a comment on my love life!"

"I did no such thing!"

"You said I was lonely!"

"I said this room felt empty!"

"Same thing!"

Naruto and Haku sweatdropped at their antics. It was no secret that Mei wanted a love life, hell her dream was to get married, so she always took things personally and misinterprets anything that could involve her love life.

Naruto had to wonder, why hadn't Mei found someone already? She was pretty enough.

"Ao, shut up or i'll kill you."

Ah that was why. Ao immediately shut up and surrendered with his head, shoulders, and arms dangling in defeat.

Breaking their comedic act Naruto spoke up, "Oi Mei-sensei! When are you gonna make us ninja?"

"Naruto I'm the Mizukage now, and I want you to address me as such."

"Oh, well then, Mizukage-sa-"

"Call me 'Miss' Mizukage please."

"Okay... "Miss" Mizukage, when is our inauguration gonna start, I wanna be a ninja already!"

Mei laughed, she got to know Naruto well over the years, and he matured in many ways despite being only 13, yet he was still too impatient when he was excited.

"Well, if you would stop asking, I could do it right now." Naruto quickly shut his mouth, though his eyes were wide and were screaming 'Hurry up already!'

By my power as Mizukage, I hereby bestow the rank of Genin to both Naruto Uzumaki, and Haku Yuki, Ao please give them their official headbands."

Ao walked forward and presented two headbands in both of his hands, both were black and had the Kirigakure symbol engraves on the metal plate.

Naruto eagerly snatched it up, while Haku gently took it and bowed in thanks. Naruto removed his leather buckle sash that held Kubikiribocho, and took it apart and grafted the pieces onto his headband which was now strapped diagonally from his shoulder to waist holding his sword in place. (The reason why its not on his head is because I like Naruto's hair down)

Haku simply placed hers onto her forehead and was going to thank Mei until Naruto spoke up.

"Wait? Why are we only Genin? Shouldn't we be Chuunin? We took out Yagura and his flunkies! Shouldn't that merit _something?_"

Mei replied, "That would be the case, however, you both do not have any experience in actually being ninja; while you two are amazingly powerful jinchuuriki's at your age, (Haku's a jinchuuriki in case you forgot) you do not have enough experience to become Chuunin. But don't worry, once you two do a couple of missions, by the time the Exams come around I'm sure you'll both do fine."

The two Jinchuuriki nodded in understanding, when Ao approached them.

"I am going to be your Jonin Instructor, and as such I need to ensure your safety." He said, "And in celebration of you two becoming ninja, I asked the guys down at the Hunter-nin corp to make these."

Ao held out his hands again with two beautiful porcelain masks, one was shaped like a fox with purple markings for eyes (Menma mask) And the other was a slitted mask with a fire design to it (Haku's mask).

Both took their masks with appreciatively and thanked their sensei.

"Since you two are Jinchuuriki you are targets for other people and villages, these are to make sure no one knows your identities when out in the field. They are also Reinforced with special material so they won't break easily, even if you smash something against it."

Both thanked Ao again and put their masks away onto their waists, as they thanked the Mizukage who told them to meet with Ao in the morning tomorrow for assignments.

When they left the Mizukage tower, they decided to visit Chojuro in the hospital. Chojuro was out of commission for a whole month and a half and when he woke up, his muscles were partially atrophied having not used them in a while, and was stuck in the hospital as a result for rehabilitation.

* * *

**Kirigakure Hospital**

The door to room 304 opened and out came Chojuro's students. The shy swordsman was happy they came to see him because though he wouldn't say it, the hospital was pretty boring and bland with nothing to do. He couldn't even train with the doctors telling him he might injure himself again.

"Hey Chojuro sensei!" "Its good to see you well sensei" Both Naruto and Haku greeted.

"Its nice to see you too, and are those your headbands I see?"

"Hai." Both answered in sync. Chojuro chuckled it seemed just like yesterday when those two were kids, and now here they were, already ninja.

Chojuro noticed the masks at their sides, "Ao gave you his gift already?" Both nodded, "Well, I don't want to be mean and not give anything to you two, so here some gifts to commemorate you guys on becoming ninja!"

Chojuro took out his gifts, one was a specialized restorative cream to treat various wounds and also a powerful liquid neurotoxin while leaves enemies immobile and has a sleeping agent mixed in, given to Haku, just in case she can't hit her targets pressure points correctly. The other gift was a sword for Naruto, to be more specific, a Sakabato. (Rurouni Kenshin's sword) It was a specialized type of katana which the part that was supposed to be the blade was black and blunt, while the actual edge was on the opposite side which was a shiny silver.

"I know how both of you don't like to kill, hopefully these will help in those endeavors." Said Chojuro in a smile.

"And Naruto, you should train with that sword until you find opponents worthy of Kubikiribocho."

"And Haku... Make sure Naruto doesn't do anything stupid."

Naruto indignant cry of 'Hey!' went unnoticed by the two as they both laughed at his misfortune.

* * *

**Uzumaki &amp; Yuki Household**

When the two finally got home after leaving Chojuro and shopping for supplies, Naruto got his long awaited ramen, and happily dug in, while Haku was happy seeing him happy. Afterwards the two slept eager for their assignments tomorrow.

* * *

**Mizukage Tower** (again)

When tomorrow finally came, our two heroes got up bright and early, got dressed, and met Ao who was in front of the Kage tower.

"Alright, from now on our team is of the three of us."

"But sensei, isn't a genin team comprised of _three_ genin, not two?" Haku asked.

Ao shook his head, "Normally that would be the case but certain circumstances have prevented you guys from getting another team member."

"Like what?" Naruto said with a quizzical look on his face.

"Well, one of the main reasons is you guys are too skilled, no other genin have the necessary amount of skill needed to keep up with you two. Another is that you two already perform perfectly with each other that there seems to be no need for a thrid member. And finally, the last reason is because there are no genin yet."

Both students looked to their teacher for answers as to why there were no other genin besides them.

Ao sighed, "You two know that the genin graduation ceremony was to have only one student graduate by killing the rest of their classmates right?"

Both nodded

"Apparently the practice had been canceled because one student killed everyone in the academy; the last graduate went by the name Zabuza" Ao saw Naruto turn his neck to glance at his sword. Ao shook his head and sighed before continuing. "Because of that little incident there weren't enough children to train to be ninjas. The ones who did have children fled the village to save their kids from suffering the same fate."

"But enough about that, are you two ready for your assignments?"

Naruto immediately got excited, and started shouting all the job possibilities they could have gotten.

"Yeah! What are we gonna do? Huh? Huh? Are we going to rescue a princess? Or! Or! maybe take out a bandit camp! What about-"

"You'll be helping people around the village."

"EEEEEEEEEH! Why!?" Naruto whined, he thought he was going to do some cool missions! Not babysitting the townspeople.

"Naruto-kun" Haku said, "You need to be patient, we can wait a little bit until we get a mission outside Kirigakure can't we?"

Naruto just hung his entire body with a defeated look. "Fine..."

"Perfect!" Ao said clapping his hands. "Now for your first assignment, you'll be helping the elderly with their groceries!"

Naruto found a nearby tree where he could bash his head in at his misfortune repeating "Its only for a little while, its only for a little while..."

* * *

**Later...**

Haku and Naruto were carrying groceries from the food vendors over to one of the many elderly in Kirigakure. Their first client seemed nice enough, she was just a kind old lady, nothing more, nothing less. Ao had left them seeing as they could do simple things like this on their own, but told them that he'll check up on them in a little bit to supervise.

But as they were walking back, they began noticing how all the villagers seemed to be whispering whenever they passed by. Both raven-haired teens could only make out a couple of words they were saying, '...Like Yagura... Demons... Not Safe...' That really hurt both of them hard, they thought that they had left that kind of past behind, but apparently the townsfolk were still too ignorant of who actually saved them from tyranny.

More and more the whispers grew and became more clear, pretty soon they just talking about them in the open, none of them caring anymore if they were heard.

This kept going on until Naruto saw a tear form in Haku's eye, and that made Naruto mad.

Turning around to face the ones that were the loudest, and before Haku could stop him Naruto shot off his mouth.

"Hey! You guys over there! If you're going to say something say it to my face!"

An adult male citizen walked forward, "Fine! We don't want you here, your stinkin presence reminds us of Yagura! Both of you house demons isn't that right? How are we supposed to know that you guys won't act like him? And I hear your friend over there massacred an entire village! Who's to say we aren't next!?"

Before anyone could blink, Naruto closed the distance between him and the man and swung Kubikiribocho cornering the man at a stone wall. However the blade never touched him, Naruto was aiming for his neck, but used the semi-circle in Kubikiribocho's blade to keep him pinned against the wall.

Naruto looked up with hate filled eyes at the man his eyes changed to red and his power radiated from his form. The man and the crowd that formed began to get nervous, the man, thinking he was going to die.

Naruto started speaking, "Listen, I don't care if you call me a demon, I don't care if you talk shit about me, I DON'T CARE IF YOU SO MUCH AS HATE ME!"

"But if you, or anyone else, starts speaking shit like that I have no problem becoming the demon you all fear. Do you understand?"

The man quivered in fear not giving Naruto and answer.

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND!"

He nodded and Naruto let him go, the man clutching his neck and shaking on the floor.

"That goes for the rest of you! If I see any of you badmouthing Haku, **I'll have no problem granting you safe passage to hell." **

Naruto calmed down, and the pressure on the people was lifted making everything calmer.

Haku tugged on his arm, "Come on Naruto-kun... Let's go home."

Naruto gave her his patented smile, "We got to finish the job first ne?"

And both walked off together, leaving the crowd scared, speechless and oddly enough trusting of the two as they walked on.

None of them realizing Ao was on one of the rooftops seeing the entire thing. He was happy that Naruto wouldn't let their berating hurt him, and he knew that he wouldn't let them hurt Haku. He then vanished in a shunshin to meet with them later.

* * *

The next few days in the village were growing more and more peaceful for our band of heroes, in the sense that people grew to respect both of them because both had helped around the village doing simple, menial tasks, but helped their village in the long run.

For some reason, even though the townsfolk were skeptical of the jinchuuriki, they had no actual reason to hate them. Somewere still scared of Naruto but as they saw them helping out, and saw their friendly faces as they smiled and laughed, made them rethink their thoughts on the two.

They couldn't find a reason to hate them, in all that they've done in the village so far, neither of the two attacked any townsfolk since Naruto's outburst. And both had helped out some villagers without even being asked! Ranging from finding a lost animal, to helping someone carry their bags, the two had always help when they could.

They just couldn't bring themselves to hate Haku's kind face, and Naruto's infectious smile, however, they hated his pranks.

After the incident with Naruto's outburst, instead of verbally talking about them, some brave souls tried to make sure that the jinchuuriki did not have a good day. Some attempts were made on "accidentally" tripping them, or, trying to make their missions harder by hiding things that they needed, or even just plain refusing to sell even the simplest of products.

But the thing is, they always took it with a smile, except Naruto's smile was one of mischief, because for everything the villagers did, Naruto would always get them back. When they tried tripping him, he stomped on their feet making them hop on one leg as they nursed their hurt foot. Or when they hid the items they needed Naruto always seemed to find them and always left a paint bomb in its place, showering each culprit in an array of colors making them a human rainbow. And for those that would refuse to sell them anything Naruto would flip them off.

All of these earned laughs from the townspeople, every single time someone was the victim of a prank they laughed in amusement. Hell, even some of the victims laughed!

But then they wondered, when was the last time any of them laughed? The feeling used to seem foreign to them until now. Before they would always have to keep on eye looking over their shoulder to make sure they weren't killed by Yagura and his men. But now... Now laughing felt... nice.

Naruto's pranks were a breath of fresh air for the people of Kirigakure and they grew to love his ingenuity with each and every act of mischief.

But that isn't to say they didn't like Naruto more than Haku. In fact, they adored the sweet and kind soul she was compared to Naruto, instead of reacting the way Naruto did to the villagers operations, she would always look unfazed by them and still look at them the same way she always did.

With a smile.

Unlike Naruto's mischievous smile, hers melted their cold hearts, and made some of them even feel bad for doing such mean things to a loving girl.

Haku helped feed the people who had nothing to eat, to them, she was like an angel sent from heaven. Her cooking was divine, said so by the ones who ate it. In fact, even the ones who _could _get something to eat preferred her cooking above all else. Some even proposed to her because of her beauty and cooking, but were immediately socked in the face by Naruto.

Pretty soon, both became favorites of the village, and were treated with the utmost respect anyone could give them.

And both were happy that things turned out good for the two of them.

* * *

**1 Week Later**

Today was finally the day that our team of heroes got their first real ninja mission, they were going a branch village to the east by the name of Wave to investigate why they traded any of their good with Kirigakure.

Over the last few years Wave apparently never traded with anyone. It was strange, why would a small country like that whose main source of income was trading stop doing so?

So Mei sent Ao and his team over to investigate.

* * *

**Wave 1 day later**

It had taken the three Kiri-nins a day's worth of travel to get to their destination.

Right now they were traveling via a boat courtesy of a very nervous man. When they asked him for information pertaining to the buisness dealing of Wave he clammed up, not speaking a word. So instead they decided to go to the village for clues to their mystery.

As they were riding the boat, Naruto and Haku took in the sights. They had marveled at the beauty of their lake, and the wildlife around them. Naruto almost flipped the boat over to see a new type of fish he had never seen before, much to the glaring of their transporter.

When they finally arrived, they moved to investigate the village, only to gasp at what they saw.

Many of the villagers seemed to be suffering from atrophy, their muscles seeming nonexistent, and their town was sucked of life. None of these villagers smiled, it was as if they didn't know how! In fact, their faces looked the same as the ones in Kiri before the rebellion.

"What happened here? Why are all the villagers so skinny?" Naruto asked aloud.

"What could of happened to these poor people?" Haku said with hands over her mouth.

"We need to find out whats happened, split up and ask any of the villagers for information." Ao said as he disappeared in a shunshin.

Haku and Naruto were left to their own devices, both looked at the other and nodded before going off in their separate directions eager to find out the cause of such despair.

Little did they know, someone was watching them and left as soon as they saw the headbands on the team.

* * *

**? Unknown location**

A lone mercenary ran into the offices of Gato, who was currently in the middle of a business deal with some other powerful mercenaries.

Gato was a corrupt business man who was extremely greedy and cruel. If there was profit to be gained from doing something, nothing would stop him.

He was a powerful was a shipping magnate and founder of Gato company. He dealed secretly in drugs as well as being the owner of a smuggling business used for shipping said drugs into towns making them dependent on him thus increasing his profit.

He was short man in his late forties, he wore a black business suit reflecting his status with a yeallow dress shirt and red tie underneath. He had long light brown hair and also wore rings on his hands along with a pair of sunglasses that he seemed to keep on whether it was sunny or not.

And to top it off, he hates interruptions and problems with his businesses. So when the mercenary came into his office unannounced and uninvited, one could tell he was not happy.

"Who the hell is it! Who dares to interrupt me as I was talking!?"

The man was panting obviously out of breath, he was taking so long to catch his breath that Gato was considering whether or not to execute this man right now if the information he was going to receive was worth the interruption.

"*Pant* Lord Gato! There are Kiri-nins in the village!"

"What!? How many?!"

"Three sir!"

Gato had a look of contemplation on his face. He had taken over Wave a few years ago and was making a killing with both his shipping business and his drug smuggling ring. He had few problems with "heroes" in the small village, but he took care of them like he did with any other.

With fear.

He wasn't worried about the sudden appearance of ninja's however, with his new hired help, they should be easily taken care of.

He looked towards the man who gave him the information and said, "Good work son, no need to fear, with our new help, those ninjas shouldn't be a problem."

And, with a motion of his hand, the man was gone.

Turning his attention over to his soon-to-be goons, he saw that the three of them were obviously wondering what that was about.

"I'm sorry gentlemen, it appears a... "problem" has just come up, Actually... If you manage to take out those ninja, there will be a big bonus for your three, INDIVIDUALLY."

Two of the three mercenaries smirked, only three ninja? Easy money right? However the one that didn't smile was lost in his thoughts, he didn't realize however that his two colleagues were about to leave him until one of them called out to him.

"Oi! Get your ass over here!" One of them called out.

"The hell is keeping you!" The other said.

"S-sorry!" The last mercenary said.

The mercenary that called him motioned for hime to follow them.

"Come on! We shouldn't keep our "guests" waiting eh, _Menma_?

* * *

AN

* * *

ARGH I **SUCK** AT FANFICTION! but whatever

Plot twist. and to answer no, that is not Menma from the movie, He is Menma from the anime, sadly, not many remember him as he was in an OVA, and not many use him in fanfics, in fact, I have yet to see someone incorporate him into their story as of yet so that's why he's there.

Also the reason I've given Naruto a Sakabato (Rurouni Kenshin's sword) is because of a thing I saw in Final Fantasy Crisis Core. You know that big ass sword that Cloud carries in Final Fantasy 7? Well apparently its original wielder got it from his dad and didn't use the massive blade, but instead a regular sword because using a weapon like his would have been a waste. And as such I thought that the Sakabato would be useful for Naruto and that he would emulate that character whose name is Angeal btw, and he would only use Kubikiribocho when necessary.

And lastly, I apologize for the crappy battle sequence (If you didn't think it was crappy HOORAY) but I just wanted it over because I was really looking forward to this arc and couldn't wait to do it, mainly for the surprise glimpse at what was to come at the end.

So how'd you like the chapter? Longest one so far. Don't get used to it though. So tell me your thoughts on this chapter, what was good, what was bad, and what was REALLY bad. So until again.

\- Aergaia


	16. Three Mysterious Strangers

**With Naruto...**

Walking through the small village, all Naruto could see were faces full of despair.

'What could of happened to these guys?' He thought to himself, everywhere he looked, everyone was looking at the ground, never meeting his eye.

Those who did immediately averted their gazes, as if ashamed...

He tried to ask a few people but they ran away before he could even explain why they were here. As if afraid of him... why?

Was it because of the mask on his face? Or was it because he was a ninja? Either way, none of them wanted to cooperate.

Sighing in defeat, Naruto was about to walk away when someone stood in his way...

* * *

**With Haku**

Just like with Naruto, Haku was also having no such luck with any of the villagers, she tried showing her face by removing her mask but all that did was cause the people to hesitate when seeing her, as if they thought they were being deceived.

It broke her heart that they couldn't trust her, and even more so that she still couldn't do anything about it, she was going to regroup with the others when a strange boy stood in her way...

* * *

**With Ao**

The same exact thing that happened to both Naruto and Haku happened to Ao, but he managed to hear some people talking of a bridge finally being made with the name **Tazuna** sticking out. When he over heard them talking, he was surprised that their words were filled with hope!

Something about this Tazuna character has something to do with whats happening around the village and Ao knew he needed to find him. He was going to go get Haku and Naruto.

But something stood in Ao's path.

There standing before him was a man, with an eyepatch and bandages around his head. He had a long brown hair along with a beard that was styled with four beads. And his clothes were a loose green pinstriped outfit with black pants and legwarmers.

But the things that Ao noticed first were his oddly shaped weapon which was a purple scroll with a handle, and his slashed out Kirigakure headband.

"...Jinpachi Munashi, one of the Seven legendary swordsman of the mist, and wielder of _Shibuki_ the Splash sword."

The now identified Jinpachi put a hand on his chin and smiled with a toothy grin that showed his sharp shark-like teeth.

"Oh? Heard about me huh? Well thats to be expected from one so prominent from the Anbu Hunter-nin corps right? Ao-san?"

Ao wasted no time in immediately increasing the distance between him and Jinpachi.

"Aw, Whatsa matter? 'Fraid of lil ol me?" Jinpachi said in a mock hurt tone.

Ao said nothing, he quietly muttered "Byakugan..." with a handseal while never taking his eyes off of Jinpachi.

"Activating your Byakugan are you? That's right I know about it. After all who wouldn't possibly know about the transplated wielder of the _Byakugan_? At least, everyone who was from Kiri knows you have it. Either way, it won't help you with me."

Flawlessly shifting through handsigns, Jinpachi had finished with both his hands having only their index and middle finger pointing upwards with on hand near his chest and the other up in the air as he shouted.

"**Kirigakure no Jutsu!" **(Hiding in Mist Technique)

Mist suddenly appeared out of thin air covering both Ao and Jinpachi in the gaseous liquid. Ao couldn't see anything in front of him, his Byakugan only had about a 9 foot radius of sight around him while his own eye only had 2.

'This isn't good, Only few in Kiri have ever mastered the art of silent killing, and unluckily for me, Jinpachi is one of those few.

It was true, the only true users of silent killing were the 7 swordsman. Some other Kiri-nins tried to use it, but didn't have the skill to use it as efficiently as they could.

"You know, if you won't start, **I will.**" said Jinpachi **right beside** Ao who dodged at the last moment.

But then, right where he was, an massive explosion occured and forced Ao away from a cloud of smoke. His clothes only slightly charred, as was his face which was covered from soot from the blast.

'Jinpachi... the true master of Shibuki, one of the legendary swords which can cause explosions when hit.'

As he was thinking this, the area of the explosion was clearing and Ao could see that Jinpachi was absolutely fine with Shibuki at his side in one hand looking no worse for wear.

'That guy... He's not even affected by his own explosions!' To say he was shocked would be an understatement. Ao knew all about Shibuki, as well as the rest of the 7 legendary swords but Shibuki was probably one of the deadliest and for Jinpachi to use it so efficiently without getting caught it his own blast... That told much about his skill with it without using words.

Jinpachi again caught Ao's eye(s) and spoke, "You know... If you don't defeat me soon, who's gonna rescue your cute little genin?

Ao's on eye widened, 'Of course he wouldn't come without backup! I have to get to Naruto and Haku soon, who knows who they're up against? I just hope they can hang in there...'

* * *

**Meanwhile...**

"Mm? Who are you?" Naruto asked, when a roundhouse kick met his face, sending him off to the side and crashing into a building with a cloud of dust emanating from the collision.

"You know... Its polite to give ones name first." said the man in a smug tone while smiling at the damage he caused to Naruto.

"Its even more rude to just kick those you met bastard!" Said Naruto as he ran out of the dust cloud with his Sakabato in hand, ready to strike at the culprit who kicked him. When suddenly, the man disappeared in a shunshin and reappeared on top of a roof on one of the houses.

"Hmm, still just a child huh?" The man mocked,

"I'll show you who's a child!" Naruto screamed through his mask. Even though the man couldn't see his face, he knew Naruto was probably furious and laughed at him which made Naruto livid to end.

The man then started to run away! No way was Naruto going to let what he did slide!

"Hey get back here!"

"No way! This is much more fun! Hahahaha!"

Pretty soon, Naruto and the man came across a clearing surrounded by trees, herbs, and wild life when finally the man stopped running.

"Caught ya you bastard!" Naruto said pointing at the man.

"Maybe you did, but right now, seeing as you're in no mood to introduce yourself, I'll do it. You may call me Shiin." The man said.

The now identified Shiin bowed in front of Naruto, as if he was gracing him in his presence.

Taking in hia full features, Shiin was a pale-blue faced man with narrow eyes and long black hair. His clothes consisted of a beige cloak over a long purpleish robe along with shinobi sandals.

"I don't care who you are! I'm gonna kick your ass for kicking my face!" Naruto screamed at Shiin who just smiled as he ran into the foliage around them.

"You have to catch me first brat!"

"Get back here!"

And they were off, meanwhile...

* * *

**With Haku**

"Who... are you?" Haku inquired to the boy standing in her way.

"My name is Menma, please forgive me for this." The boy took an ocarina that was hanging around his neck and began playing it.

The melody he played was beautiful, but when it reached Haku's ears she felt drowsy and her vision was getting blurry.

'Wha? W-whats happening?' thought Haku right before she passed out where Menma was waiting to catch her.

"I truly am sorry for this..." Menma said as he jumped away with Haku in tow.

* * *

**Back With Naruto**

"Oi! Stop running so I can hit you!"

"Not a chance!"

Shiin and Naruto had been running through the forest for about 5 minutes with Naruto having no such luck in catching Shiin who was surprisingly fast.

Just then Shiin ducked down and disappeared leaving Naruto looking around for his target.

As he was looking around Shiin jumped down onto Naruto and began running again.

"Haha! Too slow brat!"

"Just you wait! I'll pound you right into the ground!"

And they took off again, every time Naruto was close to catching him, Shiin managed to lead Naruto into a waiting treebranch to hit him in the forehead, making Naruto more frustrated than before.

After about 10 minutes of cat and mouse, Shiin just stopped on top of a thick branch. The act was so sudden that Naruto went right past him trying to stop his momentum but failed and accidentally tripped himself sending him careening towards the trunk of a tree where he impacted and left a human sized dent on the bark.

"Well its been fun, but why don't we get serious hmm?" Shiin said and he took out a strange weapon. It was a silver kunai with a fine blade and shine to it, but attached to the ring was a red ribbon.

Naruto knew never to underestimate a weapon, that was beaten into him by Ao and Chojuro who had more of their fair share of battles in their lives. But Naruto was still skeptical when Shiin just threw it into the forest, not even hitting Naruto by a mile.

"What are you trying to do? Attack the trees?" Naruto said, when Shiin just smiled, an evil, cocky smile.

"I think you might want to take a look behind you." Shii simply said, pointing behind Naruto.

"Like I'm falling for that! What? Do you think I'm stu-" The words were caught dead in Naruto's mouth when he sensed something coming right at him!

He dodged by jumping onto a nearby trunk where he couldn't believe his eyes. The Kunai that Shiin had thrown somehow managed to come back!

Before Naruto could think on how it did so, the branch that he jumped off of got torn off its tree. And it wasn't just a little branch either, it was about three times as thick as Naruto was! (Think of Forest of Death Tree Branches)

Naruto's eyes widened under his mask, "What the hell?"

Shiin was still holding onto the ribbon, and with a tug, the kunai went back to where it came from, right into Shiin's waiting hand where he caught it effortlessly.

"Like it? This ribbon isn't normal, nor is this Kunai you see here. You see, If I pump both of these with chakra, not only can I control wherever it goes," Shiin demonstrated by letting th Kunai go, but instead of dropping to the ground, it just hovered in the air like a snake. "I can also make the specialized metal in this kunai pierce steel!"

Shiin said cocky as ever, as he threw the Kunai yet again at Naruto who skillfully used the back end of his Sakabato to try to cut the rope-like ribbon to no effect.

'Wha? The hell are these things made of?' Thought Naruto as he needed to dodge the Kunai again before the platform he was on broke off in splinters.

Naruto did all he could to the strange weapon but all he could do to it was deflect it, and even then, the force of the blow managed to knock him off balance.

'The hell am I supposed to do! All I can do is go around these trees!" Narutos eyes widened.

He had an idea :D

A smile graced his mask-hidden face. Our raven haired hero needed to rile Shiin up for his plan to work.

"Hey retard, this thing gonna catch me a few years from now?"

"What!?"

"This thing is slow as crap! I think you should return it and get your money back, this thing can't even touch me!"

"I'll show you!"

It was done, Naruto had done all he needed to do. Shiin used his weapon to try to chase Naruto to impale his head to show him how crappy his weapon could be!

What he didn't notice was that Naruto was weaving through trees and branches flawlessly and everytime, the ribbon on the Kunai went around it.

'Did it.' Naruto thought with a smirk, as he just stood still on another branch waiting for the odd weapon to hit him.

"Got you now!" Shiin said, but what he didn't expect was his kunai to just stop right in front of Naruto's nose, the blade seemingly could go no farther.

"W-what!? How could-" thats when Shiin finally noticed what Naruto had done. He had been so focused on getting the brat that he didn't see what he was doing!

There, across trees and branches alike, was his ribbon, coiled around them and even tying itself up in a few places. Naruto had expertly led the blade which, unknowingly to Shiin got it caught and made it useless.

"Now you're mine!" Naruto yelled out as he drew his Sakabato and launched himself from his branch, eager to pummel Shiin when something invaded his ears.

He froze up in the air, his muscles and limbs not listening to him, his whole body was paralyzed. "What the hell!?" Naruto exclaimed as he fell the the ground.

"Augh! Why can't I move!?"

Thats when he noticed, Shiin was playing a flute!

'Genjutsu?!'

Shiin was still playing as he came down from where he was and stood in front of the jinchuuriki.

Shiin began twirling his flute and began speaking. "Thought you were gonna get me huh? Like my jutsu? Paralyzes your whole body through your ears by using sound, the plus side to this is you can't dispel it since you can't use your hands!"

Shiin put his flute away and took out a regular kunai, "Any last words brat?"

Shiin held up the kunai, ready to stab it into Naruto's head when a beautiful melody started playing. All of sudden, Naruto felt power rush from in him, he felt like he could take down an entire army and still htake down two more! sThenSomehow the music he was hearing increased his energy, but it also managed to dispel Shiin's genjutsu.

"Yeah I got some last words for you! Suck on this!"

Naruto took his Sakabato and used its blunt edge to strike Shiin's upper body in a blur of attacks, managing to hit Shiin's arms which were now broken and useless.

"Argh! My arms! You insolent brat! Just you wait! I'll get you! And when I do you'll beg me for mercy!"

Then, Shiin disappeared in a shunshin, and oddly enough, his weapon was nowhere to be found.

Naruto decided that it was time to leave, and when he did, he saw the sleeping form of Haku leaning against a tree.

"Haku! Are you okay? What happened?" Naruto said to his friend as she stirred awake.

"Oh Naruto-kun, what are you doing here?" Haku said in a semi sleepy voice, rubbing her eyes.

"C'mon Haku, get on my back! We need to find Ao-sensei!"

Haku did as instructed, still a bit drowsy and fell asleep on Naruto's back as he tried to search for his teacher.

* * *

**With Ao**

Both Jinpachi and Ao were still going at it, both showed visible signs of wounds and fatigue although Jinpachi looked as if he was enjoying himself.

"Well, its been fun, but I really need to go, no sense in finishing you off right away, I can always do that later. Plus your cute genin seem to be just fine. Ciao!"

Jinpachi left abruptly, and Ao collapsed in a heap right there and then, when our two raven haired heroes found him.

"Ao-sensei! Ao-sensei!" Naruto tried shaking his teacher awake.

"Oi! Knock it off will you! I'm not dead yet!" Ao said glaring at his student.

"Sensei! What happened?" Naruto asked, still carrying a sleeping Haku, which Ao did not miss.

"It seems each of us were attacked, but apparently, the one who confronted Haku simply put her to sleep, I don't see anything serious done to her with my Byakugan."

"Wait you were attacked? By who!?" Inquired Naruto.

"I'll tell you later, first we have to talk to a mister **Tazuna** first, he lives by the edge of the forest." Ao said.

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go!" Naruto was about to run off when Ao stopped him, holding onto his ankle.

"Hold on, I need you to carry me, it seems I used more chakra than I thought with my byakugan and my fight."

"Eh!?"

"In fact, I think I'm gonna pass out right no-" The sentence was never finished as Ao fell unconscious letting Naruto's ankle go.

"Are you serious!?" Naruto exclaimed as he now had to carry both Ao _and_ Haku.

Naruto looked into the distance.

That house was a really far away, it had better better be worth it.

Naruto took Ao collar and began dragging him along the road unaware of the next events that would happen.

* * *

**AN**

Sorry if I just skipped over Ao's battle but you will see what happens next.

Anyway thats it.

-Aergaia


	17. Meeting Tazuna and Gato's Plans!

Good god my chapters do not have consistent words, as in they range from 1000 words then to 3000 to 7000 then back to 1000, for that I am sorry.

On an unrelated note, Metal gear solid V Ground Zeroes is amazing, Team Fortress 2 is hard, and Murder on Garry's mod is bullcrap with my friends.

:P Anyway heres another chapter.

* * *

**Tazuna's House**

After about an hour and 30 minutes of carrying Haku and dragging a passed out Ao, Naruto finally made it to Tazuna's house, whoever he was.

The humble abode was a small cottage about two stories made entirely of wood and was beside the large lake that connected to the sea.

Not being one to use any sort of tact, Naruto simply walked up to the door and started knocking on it saying.

"Hey! Is this Tazuna's house!?"

All that the dark haired boy received in response was the shuffling of movement that ceased altogether and whispers.

"Umm. I've got two injured- *looks at Haku* -ish people with me! We're ninjas! Can you guys help us?"

The door opened, and standing before Naruto was a tall lanky man with grey hair, a beard and glasses. He was wearing a towel around his neck along with a sleeveless v-neck shirt and shorts.

"Are you really ninja's?" The man asked seriously, and Naruto flinched under his gaze.

"Y-yes we are!" Naruto responded and the man gestured him to come inside. The interior was simple and plain, but looked nice nonetheless, and the man had led him inside to a nice looking tea table.

Naruto gently set Haku down, and let go of Ao and sat down on the mat that was prepared for him as a woman came into the room holding a tray with two cups of tea.

"So." The man said as he took a cup, "Are you here to help us? My name's Tazuna, the lady over here is my daughter Tsunami, and my grandson Inari is sleeping upstairs."

Naruto, taking his own cup and taking off his mask, replied, "Naruto. Actually, we have no idea whats going on in this village. My team and I were investigating why Wave hasn't traded with our village like they used to in the past."

The man sighed with a downtrodden look, "Well get comfortable its a long story, it all began when a man named Gato appeared in our peaceful village..."

* * *

**Meanwhile...**

"Freakin brat... Next time I see him, he's dead!"

Shiin muttered as he came into Gato's office stumbling over in pain with his broken arms hanging limp at his side.

With Gato were Jinpachi and Menma, the latter looked completely fine while the former was a little roughed up from his fight and was covered a bit in bandages.

Jinpachi saw Shiin's arms and laughed while Shiin glared at him wishing that he could still use his arms to strangle his neck. Because while they were allies, they were only business partners who had nothing to do with each at all.

"The hell happened to you? Broke your arms playing with that ribbon of yours?" Jinpachi remarked.

"Why are you laughing, you don't look much better than I do 'Ossan' (Old man)." Said Shiin with a smirk.

"Why I outta-"

"Enough of your foolish banter! Did you guys get rid of the ninja!?" Said Gato who had lost his patience listening to the two bicker.

All three looked at each other and looked back at Gato as they all said in synchronization "No."

Silence filled the room, Gato was staring at them slack jawed, "What do you mean you didn't kill them!? Maybe you guys just aren't as strong as you said you were! Maybe you all are just weak!" Gato yelled slamming his fists onto the top of his desk.

Jinpachi walked forward and faster than you could blink, he was holding Gato's arm in his hand.

"Weak, you say?" Jinpachi tightened his grip and easily broke the shipping magnate's arm like it was child's play

"Augh! My arm!" Gato cried as he clutched his broken appendage. Jinpachi then lifted Gato up by his neck, hoisting him up into the air until he was about 4-5 feet off the ground his small legs dangling from the lack of platforms to stand on.

Gato was struggling in his grip as not only did he have the pain of his arm to deal with, but Jinpachi was also choking him as he was in the air.

Looking into his eyes and making sure that Gato did the same Jinpachi spoke with absolute seriousness. His killing intent making Shiin and Menma uncomfortable, while the guards outside of the office were paralyzed with fear.

"Listen here you little midget; I am only working for you because of your money, nothing else! If you dare insult my abilities again, I will consider our contract null and void, and I will not hesitate to end your life! Is that understood?"

Gato merely whimpered in response, and Jinpachi threw the small man harshly on the ground where he stood up, albeit shaking.

"My reasons as to why I did not finish my target are my own, not yours. I believe that if I had let him go, later I would have a fight of a lifetime and I don't want the fun to end." Jinpachi said with a smirk.

Deciding that now would be a good time to say their reasons as to why they were not able to finish their targets, Shiin spoke up.

"Everything was going fine for me until the little bastard managed to break out of my sound genjutsu, if that wasn't enough the little brat broke both of my arms!" Shiin spat out in a small bit of fury.

Menma chose this time to speak as well. "My target escaped before I even had a chance to engage." He simply said not wanting to elaborate in what had happened.

Jinpachi smiled then chuckled a bit, "You see? No big deal, besides there are only three of them, and two of 'em were kids! I bet if we were to fight 3 on 3 we could kill them faster than you could blink!"

Gato glared at the man before returning to his seat behind the desk.

"You fool! Its not about the ninja anymore! There a bridge being built in this village!"

Shiin raised an eyebrow and spoke, "A bridge? Whats got you so worked up over a bridge?"

"Because you idiot! If they build that bridge, my shipping company will be useless to them! Instead of using the sea to trade they can do it by land! I'll be ruined!" Gato yelled, then looked to his three mercenaries.

"I'm tasking you three with killing the main bridge builder! With him dead, the people will lose all hope and never oppose me again!"

Jinpachi then held up his hand to stop Gato's train of thought. "Hold on, we need about 2 weeks before we do any of this, I need to heal from my wounds, and Shiin needs to heal his arms."

Shiin sneaked up closer to Jinpachi and whispered to him, 'Hey, your injuries aren't that bad, what gives?'

'If I give the guy I fought this long, he could train his kids so I can really have a fight to remember!' Jinpachi said with a toothy grin while Shiin just rolled his eyes.

Menma, who had been mostly silent through the entire conversation listened on, remembering the information for later.

* * *

**Tazuna's House**

"And that's why we need someone to help us." Tazuna said sorrowfully. "We're too poor to ask a village for help, and if you guys don't help us... I don't even want to imagine what they would to my family."

Tazuna bowed on the floor, crying for assistance.

"Please, help us!"

Naruto walked over to Tazuna and placed a hand on his shoulder causing him to look up to see Naruto smiling kindly.

"...I'll help you and this village! I'm going to get rid of Gato or my name's not Uzumaki Naruto! Dattebayo!" Naruto said pointing a thumb to himself.

Tazuna and Tsunami were relieved and happy that he accepted his request.

Then Ao stirred on the floor and began to wake up.

Naruto noticed his sensei was opening his eye and happily told him,

"Hey Ao-sensei! Guess we're gonna do!"

* * *

I apologize if this chapter was too short.

-Aergaia


	18. Elemental Manipulation

Rubbing his eyes in annoyance was Ao looking at a smiling Naruto who had told him of his deal with Tazuna with an awake Haku sitting properly in seiza at his side. Both still coming to terms with what Naruto had done while both of them were still asleep on the floor.

"So... Tell me again what you agreed to without my consent?" Ao said sighing.

With the biggest grin he had while standing as confident as he could with arms crossed and chest out said,

"We're gonna help everybody in Wave and kick Gato's ass out of here!" Naruto exclaimed happily, to the still annoyed Ao.

"Let me get this straight... You agreed that all of us. Without our consent, would help the small country of Nami no kuni? And we would help these people get rid of one of the most prominent and richest figures of the nations?" Ao asked to which Naruto replied,

"Yup!"

"You freakin dumbass!" Ao screamed as he hit Naruto on the head causing the boy to hold his head in pain.

"Ow! The heck was that for!?" The boy said rubbing the impacted area to relieve it of pain.

"Naruto." Ao said placing a hand on his shoulder while staring at him intently. "I'm glad you want to help these people, but you have to understand that we can't possibly go against a man with that kind of monetary power on our own." Said Ao sternly.

Tazuna couldn't listen anymore and pleaded with Ao, "Please! You have to help us! I'm afraid Gato will kill me and my family!"

Sighing Ao shook his head and faced both Naruto and Tazuna. "Listen you two, we're dealing with a nukenin, one from our village; the master of the splash sword Shibuki Jinpachi Munashi one of the**Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin** **Shū" **

Naruto, Haku and Tazuna all went wide eyed at the information. The seven swordsmen were unmatched in their skill and were peerless in their weapons.

"Is that who you fought Ao-sensei?" Haku asked eager for an answer.

Crossing his arms, Ao nodded, "Yes, it was him, even though we both managed to get some decent hits in, I feel that he wasn't even trying; like, he was fighting without a care for his safety..."

Ao put a hand on his chin and closed his eyes in thought.

"To be honest, he wasn't even fighting to win... I think he was fighting for sport."

"For sport?" Naruto asked with an eyebrow raised.

Once again the Jõnin nodded and said,

"I am by no means a close ranged fighter like you Naruto, I'm more mid-ranged like Haku. Jinpachi had many opportunities where he could have used Shibuki to blow me to smithereens but he never took those chances but instead purposely choreographed his moves."

"In short...?" Naruto asked.

"he wasn't even serious."

* * *

**Elsewhere...**

Back at Gato's headquarters Jinpachi and the other two finished up their meeting with Gato. As he was leaving however, the eyepatch wearing swordsman began coughing and needede to lean on the wall in order to stay upright.

*COUGH!* *HACK!*

*Wheeze* 'My conditions getting worse, dammit! I don't have much time left...'

Jinpachi thought as he wiped blood from his mouth with his sleeve, just as Shiin came up to him from behind, annoyance clear from the looks he was giving to Jinpachi.

"Oi! What the hell was that back there?!" Shiin asked with fury in his voice, and his face scrunched up into a scowl.

"The hell are you talkin about?" Jinpachi inquired.

"I'm talking about leaving those Mist nins alone for two weeks!" Shiin yelled. He was wondering why Jinpachi asked to leave the kids and the builder alone. Even though his broken arms needed time to heal he wanted revenge against that black haired brat his pride wouldn't allow him to simply forget his loss.

"D'ya have to yell? I can hear you moron, I'm standing right here." said the explosive swordsman using his pinky to clean ear while looking at Shiin in annoyance before he continued,

"We need two weeks for back up to arrive." Jinpachi stated.

"Back up?" Shiin questioned. "Why the hell would we need back up? We can take on that old man and his two kids just fine!" Shiin growled out, only for Jinpachi to shake his head disapprovingly.

"We can't be too careful, from what I've been hearing from Kiri is that those two 'brats' as you put it, killed the fourth Mizukage."

Shiin's eyes widened, and Jinpachi continued again.

"Also those kids are rumored to be jinchuuriki, to which beasts though, I have no clue. But even though there are only three of them we can't take any chances. Using my connections I managed to snag a pair of mercenaries that defected from Kiri that'll arrive within the two weeks I've set. In the meantime, try to figure out a way to handle that kid you fought, I'll be doing my best to come up with a strategy."

Shiin nodded and Jinpachi turned and walked away both thinking up of ways to make their plans succeed.

* * *

**Tazuna's House**

After their discussion, a fully bandaged Ao had Naruto and Haku meet him within the forest for their training.

"Okay listen up! I don't know when our enemy will attack us, but right now we have time, and we're going to use it wisely. Because right now I'm going to teach you two elemental manipulation."

Hearing this Naruto jumped up in excitement, while Haku showed her enthusiasm in a less physical way than Naruto by smiling eagerly.

Ao smiled seeing their animated faces, and told them, "Don't get too excited now, even though I will teach you elemental manipulation I do not have the required materials to check what your affinities are."

"Affinities?" Naruto asked,

"Yes, your elemental affinity is basically the element you are most in tune with and comes to you more naturally than other elements. In short, you are much better at learning that element than you would others. Unfortunately I don't have the required material needed to check your affinities."

"Why not Ao-sensei?" Haku inquired curious as to why he would be teaching them elemental manipulation without having the one thing needed to start it off.

Sighing, the eye-patched nin said, "That's because I had no idea that things would escalate so far and fast withing the last few hours. I _was_ going to teach it to you after both of you had some missions under your belts but it seems that matters have pushed me to speed up your training. But not to worry; even though I don't have the chakra paper I can still teach you some ninjutsu after the manipulation training."

"For you Haku its going to be easier than with Naruto because your **Hyoton **bloodline automatically makes you proficient in both water _and _wind techniques. But for Naruto I have no clue what his natural element is so we're just going to have to wing it. In light of this I am going to have both of you train in _water_ manipulation."

Both students listened intently for their lesson from Ao who closed his eye and began to move one of his hands with index finger pointing up and started moving it around in a wavy fashion.

"Water manipulation is all about _circulation_. The use of water in ninjutsu is like the flow of a river or the raging torrent of rapids. Water is not about spontaneous action like the other elements but instead focuses on having the user be like a running stream, always moving with nothing stopping it."

As Ao was explaining it he gestured over to a lake not far from them.

"That brings us to the actual training; both of you will place a hand in the water and with your chakra make it go around your body and back into the lake like so."

Ao demonstrated for his two students as he knelt down and place a hand inside the lake then closing his eye he made the water go up his sleeve where it disappeared under the fabric, only to reappear near his neck then back down his clothes eventually making it circulate through his entire body where it gently went back into the lake it came from.

Standing up Ao motioned for his students to do what he just did and said, "Once you two finish this, we can get started with ninjutsu."

Both students nodded before going to work on their training, neither of them noticing a blonde boy with an ocarina around his neck staring at them across the lake.

* * *

AN

I apologize for the still crappy shortness of my chapters but I'm 16 and a lazy ass so can't do nothin 'bout that. On an unrelated note, I'm gettin surgery on the 6th of August, which is tomorrow. Don't know why I'm puttin it here I just am. See ya later

-Aergaia


	19. Inari

"Arhg! How am I supposed to do this!?" Naruto yelled in frustration fussing through his hair with both hands.

He and Haku had been training in Ao's manipulation exercise for a couple of hours now but had no success in getting the water to flow all over their body. To make matters worse whenever they lost control of the water it collapsed on their body losing whatever form their concentration made.

And because of this, their clothes got drenched and they had to take off most of their clothing to dry making both adolescents blush seeing each other in their underwear.

Naruto more so because Haku's figure was maturing fast, even though she was only 13 her breasts were developing at a somewhat rapid pace, as she was a B-cup border lining a C-cup, though one wouldn't be able to tell with her loose fitting clothing.

In all their hours of work Naruto managed to only get his water up his arm and to his collar, while Haku managed to get it to her torso. Which confused Naruto as to why _Haku_ was having a hard time with this. Wasn't her Kekkei Genkai associated with water? That meant that she already should have _some _form of manipulation abilities because of her **Hyoton** power.

However, this was not the case as Haku had explained to him hours before.

* * *

**_2 Hours Ago_**

_"Even though I do have an affinity for water because of my bloodline; I don't have any training in actual control over those elements. **Hyoton** is something that comes naturally to me, as is also my **Suihou **(Bubble) ability, but Suiton is in a whole other category by itself, do you understand?" Haku asked Naruto after her explanation._

_"Eh... Sort of?" the teen said rubbing the back of his head, he still hadn't fully understood it but got the gist of most of it._

* * *

But even with that said, she had better control over her water than Naruto but still had a hard time with the exercise because of their Bijuu giving them extreme amounts of chakra.

But even through this they had managed to master tree and water walking in the years of their rebellion training and they wouldn't be deterred with something as dumb as their bad control.

Right now, Haku was sweating in concentration as she was getting the water further than she did before managing to get it down to her right leg, now she needed to get it back to her stomach then go down her left leg then finally get it to her left arm and then the training would be finished.

The focus needed was something that would not allow the tiniest of distractions to interrupt the flow of the water.

The water went up to her navel, where it painstakingly went slowly down her left leg and back up her stomach and finally went down her left arm where she then relinquished her control of the water over to gravity, letting it go back into the lake.

Naruto was watching Haku as she completed the exercise with an intense face, and when she finally let the water go he jumped up and yelled exuberantly,

"Haku-chan you did it!"

Said girl was taking a couple of breaths; that much concentration left her a little drained and exhausted, but she smiled at her overly happy friend and her success.

"Mou... I can't just sit here while you leave me behind!" The boy said, his eyes on fire with determination as he set up to do the exercise again, letting his right arm dip into the water to concentrate on making flow again.

"We should head back Naruto-kun, its getting dark out." Haku said as she pointed to the setting sun, its warm lights slowly receding over the horizon and being replaced with cool winds.

"Eh!? Already! Awww, and I was so worked up on getting it right..." Naruto complained with a depressed look on his face making Haku giggle at his slight misfortune.

"Now now, we can't have you like this now can we? You can work on the exercise tomorrow, for now we need to get back to Tazuna's house so I can cook us dinner. And if you behave I might even make ramen just for you." The effects were instant at the mention of ramen.

Naruto immediately lost his depressed look and instead, had it replaced with one of thankfulness, tears leaking from his eyes as they looked at Haku as though she were a goddess sent from heaven.

He immediately tackled her in a hug that wasn't filled with enough force to hurt her, but enough to knock her down.

"HAKU YOU'RE A SAINT!" Naruto cried as tears of joy and happiness were flowing from his eyes like a waterfall.

Embarassed, Haku tried to get him off but unfortunately he was latching onto her as if she was his lifeline.

She blushed at the affectionate hug and the cute look in his eye, but it was rather embarrassing how they were on the ground in nothing but their underwear. The poor girl didn't know what to do, until Naruto finally let go as he realized she needed to actually be in the kitchen to make his food.

When he let go he finally realized what actually occurred and turned away from Haku, both blushing up a storm so bad one would think their heads were tomatoes.

As they went back to the cottage with their clothes and equipment, they were being followed by the boy with the ocarina from a far distance, never noticing his presence.

* * *

**Tazuna's House**

Making it back to the house, they found Ao resting in his futon on the floor and Tazuna sitting at the table drinking tea and Tsunami was in the kitchen preparing their dinner. Haku went over to help her, and to prepare Naruto's ramen as the aforementioned boy just sat at the table eagerly waiting for his food.

"You got a keeper there don'tcha kid?" Tazuna implied to Naruto who just tilted his head in confusion.

"Eh? What are you talkin about Oji-san?" Asked Naruto in genuine curiosity, to which Tazuna answered,

"Don't play dumb with me gaki! Haven't you two kissed? Aren't you two... you know..."

Tazuna then held his pinky up to which Naruto blushed. (Putting a pinky up in Japan is a symbol for girlfriend, Konohamaru did the same thing in canon before he ran into Kankuro when he implied Sakura was Naruto's girlfriend.)

"Wha-!? No! I mean... I like her but she isn't-!"

"Ah, say no more kid. But I've got to admit you are one lucky guy." Tazuna remarked as he looked at Haku and his daughter both having fun cooking.

Then after 30 agonizing minutes, (at least to Naruto who was still coming to terms with Tazuna's words) the food was finally ready and after waking Ao from his sleep, they began to eat.

"Thanks for the food!" Everyone said as they happily dug in to their meal.

"So how's you training going you two, I hope you've made some progress while I was resting." Ao asked his two pupils with Tazuna and Tsunami listening in out of curiosity.

"I only managed to get the water up to my shoulder but Haku already finished the exercise!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Oh? Is that true Haku?"

"Hai sensei."

"Then tomorrow I will teach you some jutsu's do you remember your handsign training?"

"Hai!"

During their years in the rebellion both Haku and Naruto were taught basic academy teachings, such as academics, history, basic jutsu, and techniques. But in addition to learning handsigns Ao took it a step further and taught both of them how to make handsigns with only one hand. Haku proved to be a genius in this aspect but Naruto... Well lets just say it was difficult for him to say the least.

About five minutes into their dinner a small boy in overalls and a bucket hat walked in with a indifferent look on his face, not even acknowledging the ninja's in the room and instead only looked to his family.

"Who's the runt?" Naruto asked getting his hand smacked by Haku for his blatant rudeness.

"Ah, this is my grandson Inari, Tsunami's son, he was sleeping upstairs when you arrived. Say hello Inari, these here are ninja that are going to help our village, we should be thankful for their help."

Inari simply looked over to the trio with an impassive look before deciding to open his mouth, and what came out was,

"You're all going to die."

"What did you say!?"

Ao looked sternly at the youth, analyzing him and his response, Haku was surprised at his comment while Naruto looked as if he was going to strangle Inari to show him exactly_**who **_was going to die.

"Its true, why do you guys even bother? Its not like you'll win against Gato, you're just going to forfeit your lives like everyone else who tried to be a **hero**."

Inari stressed the word 'hero' and clenched his hands into fists aas he said it. Though Naruto was oblivious to the small actions and instead chose to put his focus more on anger, Ao and Haku saw how Inari was reacting to the mention of heroes. They both wondered why a little boy no older than 7 years would stop believing in saviors and instead center his attention more on death.

Haku got a good look at the boy's eyes and she did not like what she saw.

They were both indifferent and uncaring and were cold and lifeless, each having a concealed amount of fear in them and sadness that Haku knewnall too well.

After all, she had the same eyes after her mother died.

Raising Inari by his collar and lifting him off the ground, Naruto looked at him straight in the face and practically yelled,

"And what the hell do you know! How are you so sure that we can't save your village!?"

Inari simply looked at him and said with emotiinless conviction,

"Because theres no such thing as heroes."

* * *

AN

hey guys sorry about the long ass wait time for this chapter, but I got brain surgwry and my neck and head hurt like hell. I'm getting better but it still hurts and I got staples on the nape of my neck going up my head about 4 inches so yeah. Anyway, how did you like the chapter? I hope the funny romantic comedy elements were to your liking.

Peace

-Aergaia


	20. Who is Kaiza?

"Because theres no such thing as heroes." Inari said flatly with no signs of fear or hesitation evident on his face.

"Wha?"

So shocked with Inari's answer Naruto let go of his collar dropping the little boy to his feet.

Before anybody could reprimand Naruto for his misconduct and Inari's rudeness, the little boy walked towards the exit of the room.

"Inari! Where ya goin'?" Tazuna asked his grandson, but inari simply opened the door and looked back with a bored eression and said.

"I'm going to my room to look at the ocean." And with that, the boy left leaving everyone speechless.

Naruto was the first to break put of his stupor as he yelled,

"The hell is wrong with that kid!?" Naruto yelled as he stomped on the floor fuming. Steam erupting from his head from anger.

For some odd reason it was not Tazuna or Tsunami who wanted Naruto to apologize, but Haku.

"Naruto-kun, I think you should say sorry to Inari."

Naruto could only look at his friend in shock.

"Huh? Why should I! He was askin' for it!"

Haku merely looked at him sternly and Naruto sighed in defeat,

"Fine... but don't expect me and him to be friends!" Naruto then walked over to the door before promptly shutting it behind him.

Ao sighed and looked over to their clients and bowed slightly, "I apologize for Naruto's behavior, he means well but sometimes it can get out of hand."

Tazuna merely waved a hand in front of his face from sided to side saying, "Its no problem, no one was hurt and it all worked out in the end didn't it?" Tazuna ended with a smile.

"Ano... Tazuna-san, why was Inari so adamant about his disbelief in heroes?" Haku asked, to which she soon wished she didn't.

Tsunami left the room with tears threatening to fall from her eyes and Tazuna's smile fell into one of a sad frown.

"Lets just say... Inari lost hope when **_his_**hero died."

Though vague and questionable, neither ninja wanted to press on further.

* * *

**Upstairs**

Naruto was walking towards Inari's room to apologize but was still angry, uttering thing like,

"Not my fault... Stupid kid... Thinks he's so hot... I'll show him!"

But when he got to Inari's door he put his hand on the door knob when he heard something he didn't expect to hear,

"Uuuu... *Sniff* uuuuu..."

'Crying?' Naruto thought.

Deciding it best not to open the door Naruto removed his hand from the doorknob and walked away with a sorrowful expression.

* * *

**Next Day**

After eating breakfast (which Inari was nowhere to be seen) Ao had asked Haku to guard Tazuna as he would give Naruto some pointers for his exercise.

And though Haku was a bit reluctant on leaving Naruto alone she complied and left with Tazuna as Ao left with Naruto to go back into the woods where the lake was located.

Once Haku and Tazuna arrived at the bridge she had nothing to do, in short she was bored and she couldn't help the builders as she wasn't exactly strong in a physical sense but she wished she could help in a way.

As she was thinking about what she could do a troubled worker came up to Tazuna with a disturbed look on his face.

"I can't work here anymore Tazuna."

"What!? Why?"

"Why build something if Gato's gonna kill us? We should just give up now and hope Gato turns a blind eye to all of this and hope everyone lives."

That pushed Tazuna over the edge, he grabbed the worker by the collar and managed to hoist him about a foot in the air making the worker see him eye to eye.

(Seriously Tazuna is freakin tall) "Listen up! I don't care about Gato and I sure as hell don't give a crap about you! You want to quit? Fine! Even if the rest of you decide to resign I'll still continue to build this bridge, it is a symbol of hope in our village! Just like Kaiza! And if you give up on this bridge, you give up on hope, and you'll just be disgracing Kaiza as he turns in his grave!"

Letting go of the worker Tazuna abruptly turned around and went back to his work as the worker scrambled up and went away.

Throughout the entire exchange Haku was thinking about one thing.

'Who is Kaiza?'

* * *

**Lake**

"Do it again Naruto!"

*Splosh*

"Again!"

*Splash*

"Again!"

.

.

.

.

*splash*

"ARRRRRGGGGGHH!"

"YOU HAVE TO FOCUS MORE!"

"I'M TRYING!"

Naruto and Ao had been practicing getting the water exercise down but Naruto was still having a great bit of difficulty doing it. In fact they had been at it for 3 hours and only minimal improvement to show for it.

"Kami I wish we had the **Kage Bunshin** scroll." Ao said with much disappointment in his voice

"Eh? Whats that Ao-sensei?" Naruto asked in genuine curiosity.

"The **Kage Bunshin** is an A-rank technique considered a Kinjutsu by some for its required amount of chakra to form the jutsu."

"Why's that?"

"The technique creates a solid clone, one that is corporeal and is able to use any jutsu the user has learned unlike other clones. The drawback to this technique is that it splits the users chakra in half, but coupled with it the clones are also useful for training in chakra techniques, like say... chakra control?

Naruto was wide eyed and already sold to the idea of using such a kickass technique,

"So why can't i learn it? If its such an awesome thing teach it to me!"

Ao shook his head, " I can't teach it to you because we left the scroll back in Kirigakure."

"Huh?"

"Remember those scrolls you found in the wagon before you met Haku? Those scrolls contained a number of jutsu's but there was also kinjutsu scrolls for,

**Kage Bunshin**(Shadow Clone), **Bunshin Daibakuha**(Great Clone Explosion), and **Kage Shuriken Bunshin no Jutsu**(Shadow Clone Shuriken)

But sadly we left those back at our village in a safe protected by our Anbu.

"AWWWWWWWWW!" Naruto whined in disappointment.

"Nothing we can do about it, anyway keep practicing!" Ao commanded Naruto who reluctantly did as asked.

A little ways away behind a tree keeping an eye on them was Inari. He simply peeked out from his hiding spot and examined what the black haired teen was doing then simply left, thinking all of Naruto's training was pointless.

* * *

**Evening Tazuna's House**

It was 4 o'clock in the afternoon and everyone had got back from their respective jobs and activities, Naruto was grumbling about something under his breath and Ao looked as if he was nursing a headache. **  
**

Tazuna came in with Haku who had a thoughtful frown on her face which didn't look right on the girl. She was thinking about the many things that were said today and yesterday, her head filled with thoughts about the mysterious man named Kaiza.

"Hey Ao-san!" Tazuna greeted, "How's Naruto and his training going?"

Ao frowned "Not good, he only managed to get the water up his arm to his shoulder before he lost control."

"Thats good isn't it?" Tazuna said with a raised eyebrow.

"Not when that process is repeated over a hundred times!" Ao yelled.

Naruto got a tick mark on his head and turned to face his teacher, pointed and shouted, "I TOLD YOU I WAS TRYING MY BEST YOU BASTARD!"

Ao shouted back at Naruto, "WHO THE HELL MAKES MISTAKES THAT MANY TIMES WITH NO IMPROVEMENT!"

"YOU'RE JUST A BAD TEACHER!"

"AND YOU'RE A TERRIBLE STUDENT!"

"THE HELL DID YOU SAY TO ME!?"

"YOU KNOW DAMN WELL WHAT I SAID!"

"WHY I OUGHTA...!"

Then it came to blows, their fight took place inside a smoke cloud with various limbs popping up here and there as everyone sweatdropped.

"Haku-chan can you come make dinner with me please?" Tsunami asked the kind girl.

"I would love to Tsunami-san." Haku said as she walked into the kitchen following Tsunami, but when she did she poked her head out smiling at Ao and Naruto and said, "Ao-sensei, Naruto-kun, if you two don't stop, **no dinner**."

Ao and Naruto froze in place, both were in the middle of punching each other in the face, fists on the others face as they looked at Haku.

She was serious.

Still smiling Haku went to help Tsunami, Tazuna just stared where Haku once was before turning his gaze at the two ninjas thinking it was just a harmless joke. That was what he thought until he saw both of them sitting in seiza at the table with sweat dripping off them as they sat with serious expressions on their faces.

Tazuna became concerned as he tentatively talked to them, "O-oi, are you two okay?"

Both turned their heads to Tazuna as fast as lightning and said in unison, "Do YOU wanna miss dinner?"

Tazuna shut up after that.

* * *

Later, dinner was finally ready everyone, even Inari went to eat where they just sat in awkward silence as they ate.

When everyone finished and Tsunami was putting away dishes Haku got up to stretch when she noticed something peculiar on the wall she had never noticed before.

"Ano... Tazuna san... What happened to this picture here?" Haku said pointing at the framed family on the wall. There was Tazuna, Inari and Tsunami standing together smiling but there was a missing piece to the picture. The face and upper body of what should have been a man was missing.

Inari sat up and dashed out the room, his hat covering his eyes.

Tazuna sighed "Ah... That is-"

Tsunami got angry and yelled, "Father! I told you not to speak of that man anymore!" Then she too went out the door to go get Inari.

Naruto looked confused, as did Ao and Haku.

"What was that about?" Naruto asked.

Haku had voiced her suspicion to the bridge builder, "Tazuna-san... Is this supposed to be _**Kaiza**_?"

Tazuna grimly nodded.

"Who was he?" Asked Ao.

"He was Nami no Kuni's _Hero_!"

* * *

AN

I suck at fanfiction.

I apologize for the month of waiting but I'm lazy and I had slow brain surgery recovery. I have not forgotten about this fic as I am a tard and look at it everyday at least once to see if I have any new favorites or followers and reviews.

I honestly forgot about the plot device scrolls I gave Naruto, thats how bad a writer I am, I didn't remember until i reread my chapters.

That's it for now.

-Aergaia


	21. The Village That Had a Hero

Sighing, Tazuna began his story, but not before taking out a big bottle of sake for him to drink. After several gulps, he began.

"The word "courage" has been stolen from the people of this land, and Inari... Ever since that day..."

"That day? What happened to Inari?" Ao asked

Taking another gulp of sake he started again, tears leaking from his eyes "Before I get to that... First I need to tell you about the man who was called a hero to this village."

"You mean Kaiza?" Naruto asked and Tazuna nodded.

Solemnly he continued, reminiscent of when Inari actually laughed and had a smile on his face.

"It was about three years ago, when Inari met Kaiza..."

* * *

_Flashback_

* * *

_On a pier stood four boys, one holding a dog, two holding the last boy, Inari, keeping him restrained._

_"POCHI!" Inari cried, the other boy was holding his dog Pochi under one arm. The three boys were bullies who were giving Inari a hard time and even kidnapped his dog, telling him to come to the pier to get him back._

_Inari shouted for his dog when the boy holding Pochi responded, "WRONG! He's my dog! And his name is Shooting Star!"_

_"His name isn't Shooting Star! Its Pochi! Now give him back! He's my friend!"_

_The boy told Inari to shut up, but just then had a wicked idea; his eyes becoming narrow and a sickening smirk formed on his face when he then tossed Pochi into the lake._

_"Let him go guys!" the boy commanded the others as they released Inari who stumbled when he was let go, tears streaming down his face._

_"POCHI!" Inari screamed as he saw his dog flailing in the water._

_The boy who threw Pochi merely gave a condescending look to the crying Inari._

_"Hey? Isn't he your dog? Why don't you go save him? Look, he's going to die if you don't." The pointed at the drowning dog._

_Inari couldn't move, he knew he couldn't swim but if he didn't do something his only friend would die!_

_"Well? Why don't you go SAVE HIM ALREADY!" the boy kicked Inari off the pier sending him careening into the water bellow._

_Inari was swallowing water at a dangerous pace as he saw the boy laughing._

_"*GLUB* HELP! *GLUB* *GLUB*"_

_One of the other boys looked worried, "T-this is bad Akane-san, what if he can't swim?"_

_The boy now known as Akane gripped the shirt of the other boy and said, "**Forget him.**"_

_"But... But..."_

_"Then do **you** want to go save the dog?"_

_The boy shut his mouth and he along with the other two left Inari to his fate._

_"WAIT! *GLUB* DON'T LEAVE ME!"_

_Just then, Pochi started paddling and started to swim to shore._

_"P-pochi!?"_

_"HEY! Shooting Star is getting away! Get him!"_

_Inari now left alone fearing for his life, was losing consciousness,_

_'Is this it...? Am I going to die...?' were Inari's last thoughts as he blacked out._

_When he woke up however, he was lying down next to a fire with a strange man with a X shaped scar on his chin and a fisherman's rope knot on his head._

_(AN: I don't know what the hell the actual knot thing is called but whatever.)_

_The odd man was cooking some fish on sticks which attracted Inari to its delectable smell._

_"You're awake now huh? Don't worry, I taught those bullies a lesson they won't ever forget. Here, eat!" The man said with a smile as he handed a fish to Inari who was still shocked at the weird man._

_'Kami?' Inari thought but shook his head and thought better of it that he was still alive and this was just a kind stranger._

_"You saved me?" Inari asked, to which the man answered,_

_"Yeah, but you sure were getting picked on huh? Even your dog didn't save you. Where I come from, dogs are loyal companions who helped their masters, but you didn't even try to save him either so what can you expect?"_

_Though it wasn't the man's intention he made Inari feel terrible, he hesitated on saving his friend! He felt cowardly and awful. _

_The man, seeing the inner turmoil on Inari's face asked what was wrong._

_"I... I was so scared I couldn't move; I wanted to save him but I didn't have any courage..." Inari broke out in tears but was halted when he felt the man's hand on his tiny head giving him a pat._

_"Yeah.. Any kid your age would be scared, but just remember... If you're a man, choose a life without any regrets!"_

_The man sat back down and continued, "For something that is precious to you... Not matter how tough, no matte how sad, you must try and try... And even if you lose your life, you must protect it with these two hands!"_

_Inari looked at the man with awe, he looked so cool and brave just then, could he... could he be like that someday?_

_"If you do that, even if you die, the proof of a man's life will remain... forever... __Right? I know its a bit corny..."_

_Inari shook his head no, he didn't think it was corny! This mans beliefs and his strength made him seem like... like some kind of..._

_._

_._

_._

**_Hero_**

_Dismissing his thoughts for now he just smiled at the mans antics and laughed saying, "Yeah!"_

_"You finally smiled! Here eat some more!"_

* * *

_Flashback End_

* * *

"His name was Kaiza, a traveling fisherman who came here to follow his dreams; after their meeting, he and Inari became very close."

"It may have been because Inari's real father had died before he got to know him, but he and Kaiza became inseparable, just like a real father and son."

Naruto smiled listening to the happy tale, that is until Tazuna's voice became grim yet again.

"He was also a man the village needed."

* * *

_Flashback_

* * *

_Kaiza and Inari were talking in his cabin when a civilian burst into the room, panting with fear etched in his face._

_"Kaiza! Terrible news! The dams are overflowing because the storm! If no one stops it D - area will be flooded! We need everyone to help in anyway they can!"_

_The fisherman stood straight and tall and yelled as he ran out with the civilian, "Then what are we waiting for!? We need to stop the water now!" Inari not far behind his father._

_When they got there, it was too late. The dam gave way letting the ferocious water pass through with some debris of torn trees and branches that it picked up on its murderous path. Nearly all the village's men were present but were just standing around not knowing what to do._

_"We have to pull the gate and pull it shut!"_

_"But to do that we need someone to tie a rope to it! No one can go into those rapids without dying!"_

_"If we do nothing then D - area will be wiped out!"_

_All the men were silent as they could do nothing, that is until one man answered..._

_"...I'll do it"_

_All the men looked in shock at the foolhardy man who answered._

_"Kaiza!" They all chorused._

_"But thats crazy! Even for you those rapids are too strong!"_

_"Don't do it!"_

_"You'll die!"_

_"DAD!" Inari cried out fearing for his father's life. _

_Looking at Inari and smiling, Kaiza crouched down and pat Inari like he always did and reassured his son._

_"Don't worry Inari, your dads invincible... Because your dad loves this village."_

_With a band of rope wrapped around is shoulder, Kaiza bravely jumped in the dangerous rapids fighting the current to get to the gate._

_"KAIZA!" The men screamed, and as they watched, Kaiza's words from when they first met echoed in Inari's head._

_"If something is truly precious to you..."_

_"Even if you lose your life..."_

_"With these two arms..."_

_"You must protect it!"_

_"DAD YOU CAN DO IT!" Inari screamed._

_"He did it! Everybody pull!"_

* * *

Flashback End

* * *

"And then... Kaiza was called a hero by the people of Wave and Inari couldn't be more proud of his father. That is... Until **Gato **came"

Everyone was on the edge of their seats, even Ao, who asked,

"What exactly happened?"

Tear now flew freely off of Tazuna's face, he no longer held them back and cried as he looked directly into Ao's eye.

"In front of the entire village... **Kaiza was executed by Gato!**"

The room became deathly silent, Naruto stared wide-eyed at Tazuna while Haku placed a hand over her mouth in shock. Ao had just tipped his head slightly as he had guessed that outcome for the brave man at the hands of the evil magnate.

* * *

_Another Friggin Flashback_

* * *

_There on a cross shaped post was Kaiza, he was crucified and his arms were cut off, he was suspended about three feet in the air and ropes were tied around his shoulders so he wouldn't die of blood loss._

_Gato was next to him, as was his hired hand Zori a samurai mercenary. They were standing in the center of Nami no kuni and were inside a fenced area to prevent any bystanders from interfering._

_Seeing everyone around him stare at the prone figure of their hero Gato decided to make his speech. _

_"Listen up! This man has been conducting terrorist activities against the Gato corporation! He has been disrupting the countries peace and as such, the punishment is death!"_

_Now done with his speech, Gato turned to leave but not without giving an order to Zori,_

_"Kill him..."_

_Zori complied and drew his katana, Inari stood right in front of Kaiza behind the fence getting a full view of what was about to happen, his tiny hands gripping the fence hard and tears falling from his eyes. Kaiza looked up and made eye contact with Inari and smiled..._

_"DAAAAAAAAAAD!"_

* * *

_Last Flashback of this chapter end_

* * *

"After that day, everyone changed... Inari, Tsunami, and the townspeople. They all lost hope and in its place in their hearts grew despair..."

"When Kaiza died, Inari stopped believing in heroes, and the village gave up on hope and courage." Tazuna recounted the day after Kaiza's death, Inari didn't mourn but instead hated the man he called his father. On his grave Inari didn't speak words of sorrow but instead words of anger, Tazuna never forgot what his grandson said that day...

_"You... You said you would protect everyone... Me, this village, WITH YOUR TWO ARMS! You're a LIAR dad!"_

As Tazuna wept, his tears flowing down every crevice that showed his age Naruto just glared at nothing remembering Inari's attitude towards everyone.

_"There's no such thing as a hero!" _

_"Uuuu... *Sniff* uuuuu...dad..."_

Finally making up his mind Naruto ran out from his chair to go to the door. However he still hadn't fully recovered from his training session and fell flat on his face. If the mood wasn't so somber Ao might have laughed.

"Where are you going Naruto?" Ao asked, "You know you still haven't recovered your chakra yet, so why don't you rest up?"

Pushing himself off the floor, the teen responded,

"Can't... I'm gonna prove it..."

"What?" Tazuna asked,

Opening the door, the midnight haired teen peered outside saying,

"I'm going to prove, that in this world... Heroes do exist!"

* * *

AN

I feel awful. Not because of my surgery, cause thats healed now. No, I'm sorry I left you guys hanging for a month, I truly apologize, I'm just a friggin R-Tard sometimes and I blame it all on my AP Psych class. (AP = College level class for highschoolers) I will update another of my crappily short chapters in 2 weeks but before that, I put a poll on my thingy about who should be Naruto's third teammate, Its either going to be Menma, Tayuya, or Kimimaro. Why? I dunno, but if its Tayuya I'm pairing her with Naruto (cause shes sexy), If its Kimimaro, I'm making him younger, and if its Menma... HOORAY! but yeah pick who you want, and goodbye.

-Aergaia


	22. A Chance Meeting

Okay... here's the poll so far.

Tayuya - 5

Kimimaro - 8

Menma - 0

Menma gets no love T^T I fixed the poll so you can vote now and it wasn't working cause the thing needed to be activated to be viewable on my profile, just making the thing isn't enough to show it on a profile, oh well, at least I know now.

Here's a crappily short chapter courtesy of my procrastinating brain

**WARNING: ONLY 1,000 WORDS**

* * *

**Forest**

It was early morning and Naruto had been training all night, falling asleep from his exhaustion out in the dense forest. It was morning, and our young hero was lying down on the grass without a care in the world. His sleep was so peaceful that there were birds perched on his body showing off the serenity of his rest on the ground almost being one with nature.

Though he was not alone, another person was there with him, Menma had been picking up some herbs to help his "co-workers" when he spotted the dark haired adolescent.

Menma thought nothing of it until he saw the massive sword that was stabbed into the ground along with a ninja headband that was attached to it.

'He's one of them...' Menma thought as he saw the Mist insignia on his headband. He retrieved a kunai from somewhere on his body and was about to slit our hero's throat.

But...

He didn't. Menma could never take a life willingly, especially one that had no means to fight back. Looking at the dark haired boy's face, he wondered how he could sleep so peacefully when so close to death? Had it been anyone other than him, they would have ended his life immediately. Menma shook his head from his thoughts and woke the boy up, making the birds fly away.

"Hey... You're going to catch a cold if you sleep out here."

* * *

A Little Bit later...

* * *

"Is this the herb you're looking for?" Naruto said as he raised a small plant in the air.

"Ah! Yes, that's the one, I appreciate your help ninja-san." Menma smiled and Naruto grinned.

"No problem! But why do you need these things anyways?" Naruto asked.

"Ah, they're for a... friend of mine. He was injured and broke his arm, if I mash these herbs into a paste and apply it to his skin it'll mend his bones faster."

(AN: That is complete BS but lets roll with it.)

"By the way... I've noticed you have a headband, are you a ninja?"

"Yup! I'm a certified Kiri-nin! check it out!" Naruto happily exclaimed showing off his headband.

"Is that why you were out here? What could you possibly do so early in the morning?" Menma asked. and almost immediately Naruto answered,

"Training!"

"Why?"

Naruto immediately stood up from his crouched position and smiled at Menma, confusing him.

"Why? Because I want to become stronger! That's why!"

"But you look plenty strong already, isn't that enough?" Menma questioned.

Naruto looked down to Menma who was still crouched and with an almost dejected expression said,

"No... No it isn't... In our world there are tons of people stronger than me, many of them are strong for the wrong reasons..."

"And what would that be?" Menma asked, intrigued by the other boy's claim.

Turning around and falling on his back next to Menma, Naruto answered, "Greed, power, revenge... Or just plain lunacy..." while looking at the sky with a thoughtful look on his face.

Menma, hearing this sat down next to the ninja,

"Then... What's your reason to get stronger then ninja-san?"

Both of the boys were looking up at the sky now, watching the clouds go by.

"Me?" Naruto said, tilting his head to look at the clouds, "The reason why I want to be strong is to protect the ones I love... Even at the cost of my own life, I'll gladly die if it means saving those who are precious to me..."

Menma stared at Naruto in awe, though he was younger, Naruto had obviously learned and experienced life more than Menma ever had. To make a decision to sacrifice oneself... Such a thought never came across Menma's mind as he never had any ones he loved.

Sure he had Shin, but they never connected in a way that would suggest that they were no more than associates. This got Menma to think a little bit,

'I wonder... If I was faced with such a situation... Would I be able to...?'

Interrupting his thoughts was Naruto who jumped up and faced Menma with his hand outstretched, "So, I guess its high time I introduced myself! My name is Naruto! Naruto Uzumaki!"

Menma got up and grabbed Naruto's hand, and said, "I'm Menma." with a smile.

Naruto's face lit up, "Hey! Your name is a ramen topping like mine!"

Menma sweatdropped, "I guess it is?"

"This is so cool! We both have similar names! Oh! Speaking of which, you should have some ramen that my friend Haku makes! Its the best!"

Smiling once again Menma said, "I would love to Naruto-san."

Menma looking at the position of the sun realized how late it was getting and needed to return back to the hideout.

"But i'm afraid it will have to wait Naruto-san, I need to get back to my home to heal my friend, good day to you Naruto-san."

Though dejected a little bit, Naruto still smiled and waved goodbye to his new friend as he left.

"Alright! Time to get some more training done!" The black haired teen yelled and was about to set on to get his work done when his stomach rumbled.

*GURGLE*

"...After I go get breakfast." And with that, our hero took his belongings and journeyed back to get some food.

* * *

AN

Yeah... 2 weeks... I lied, it took a month, I was actually writing more for this chap but many things got in the way, mostly school related things... Stupid Kohlberg project and his 6 stages of conservation. Anway sorry that its only 1,000 words but I hope you like it.

-Aergaia


	23. The Water Clone Jutsu

As of right now, the poll stands at:

Tayuya: 14

Kimimaro: 6

Menma: 0

Wow... Tayuya just jumped ahead, while Menma has nothing going for him. At the end of this chap I will give a brief sort of "summary" on what will happen to the story if one of these guys gets picked.

* * *

**? Headquarters ?**

Menma had gotten back to their base around noon, where he was then looking for Shin to apply the herbs he gathered. But he couldn't find him anywhere; Shin wasn't in any of the rooms so Menma had guessed that Shin left along with Jinpachi as he was also occupying their hideout too.

'Where did they go?' He wondered. Other than the village and Gato's headquarters, there really wasn't anywhere else to visit, see, or do.

Exhaling in resignation, Menma, decided to make the medicine needed for Shin's arms for now; and proceeded to place the basket of herbs on the tabletop. Finding a mortar and pestle in one of the many cabinets that were spread throughout the base, he began to mash the herbs into a paste.

About 10 minutes into making the medicine, the front door opened and in came Shin and Jinpachi both of whom were covered in blood, seemingly not their own.

A little afraid to ask Menma said, "Where were you guys?"

Menma wasn't afraid of Jinpachi or Shin but he was afraid of what he was going to hear.

"We're back from doing Gato's dirty work." Shin said angrily.

"The little midget apparently didn't want to send anyone else to collect the money those villagers owe." Jinpachi said disdainfully.

"That still doesn't explain the blood." Menma said pointing to their clothes.

"Oh this?" Jinpachi laughed, "Those freakin idiots thought they could take us on!"

A very brief look of exasperation and disbelief was shown on Menma's face, but he quickly let his face return to normal before they noticed.

"But why would they try to attack you?"

"Because anyone who can't pay gets their women taken away!" Jinpachi exclaimed without remorse.

"Oh MAN! You should have seen the look on those guys' faces when we took away their daughter!" Jinpachi said sardonically.

"But the daughter's reaction was even better when we cut off her fathers arms." Shin added, to which Jinpachi wholeheartedly laughed while Shin just chuckled.

Wiping a tear from his lone eye, Jinpachi calmed himself before speaking again, "It would've been boring as hell if that hadn't happened, but I think it was more fun seeing everyone try to avert their eyes from what we were doing. Hell! No one even tried to help the guy when we cut his arms off! Talk about cold!"

Menma was apalleded by their blatant disregard for the innocent, but like always, he just repressed that feeling not letting a single part of his face betray the facade he was keeping up. This was a dog eat dog world, and the weak perished while the strong strive.

Seeing Shin chuckle at the cruelty they had described made Menma remember the kind of man Shin used to be.

Menma used to be a lone orphan until Shin adopted him into his clan. In the past, Menma used to respect Shin and his clansmen as they were once a group of honor and strength.

That is until the Village Hidden in the Sound, Otogakure came...

Soon Shin and his clan were out of business, replaced by Orochimaru and his men. Little by little, the amount of jobs the clan received dwindled into nothingness; and to make matters worse, the most skilled fighters of the Shin clan were leaving to join Orochimaru.

Soon Shin was growing desperate wondering how he and his clan would survive with no more jobs from the Daimyo. As time went on, more and more members of Shin's clan were joining Oto and Shin felt betrayed.

Coupled with his desperation, a change sparked in Shin, he grew colder and more distant from the warm personality he once had, until finally he made a decision to join Orochimaru.

...But that was a mistake, Menma had seen the changes take root and grow as they continued to work with Orochimaru. Shin and the clan had changed, they had once been a clan of power and respect, but that had deteriorated as soon as the gates to Oto were opened for them.

The clan of once respectable warriors had turned into one of bandits, cutthroats and savagery.

Menma couldn't believe what happened before his very eyes, choosing instead to be ignorant of all the evil he was seeing. Menma couldn't stand Orochimaru, his cocky smirk and his serpent eyes with a piercing gaze made him all the more evil in his eyes.

During their stay in the Sound Village, Shin had been taking missions for the Otokage, each more gruesome than the last. One of the missions had Shin slaughter an innocent family to abduct a child for Orochimaru's research.

Shin grew a love and passion for all that is bloody and that's when Menma knew that the man who took him in as a child was gone.

As Menma looked at Shin's gleeful expression once again, he felt nothing but sadness of his once long-time friend.

...Friend... That concept seemed somewhat foreign to Menma now, he had never had a friend to confide in before and yet Naruto, that boy in the woods had accepted him readily and treated him kindly albeit strangely.

The only other person that Menma could sort of call a friend would be that strange kunoichi in the Sound that uses a flute. He had talked to her many times and during their interactions she always berated him. Then again she berated everyone, even Orochimaru which was kind of funny to see.

The only reason they conversed however was because of their choice in instruments, nothing more, nothing less.

'Could I have a friend again?' Menma pondered, until Shin called out to him.

"Oi is that medicine done yet!? You've been poundin at it for 10 freakin minutes already!"

Menma responded, "Y-yes its done Shin!"

Even with the distraction, Menma was still thinking about Naruto.

'...Friend...'

* * *

**Tazuna's House**

Naruto came back in time for lunch (though it was breakfast to him) and immediately started eating to sate his stomach.

Inquisitively Haku asked, "Where did you go Naruto-kun?"

Gulping down his food with an audible swallow, he answered, "I was training as hard as I could and I managed to finish that stupid exercise yesterday!"

Ao who was there eating his lunch too, overheard this and smiled.

"That's good Naruto, now we can get started with your ninjutsu, once your done eating your food meet me in the forest." Their sensei said as he disappeared in a water shunshin leaving a small trail of mist behind.

"Ne-ne Haku-chan! I met someone in the forest who wanted to be my friend! He's really nice and I asked him if we could eat ramen together!" Naruto exclaimed rather animatedly.

Inquisitively, Haku responded, "Who did you meet Naruto?" she wondered. Who would actually go and venture this far into the woods on purpose? Tazuna's house wasn't exactly close to the village (though it was still in it), and there was no real reason to actually go to the forest other than...

"Naruto, what was your friend doing in the forest?" Haku asked,

"Huh? Oh! He was gathering herbs for his friend!"

Haku contemplated this, she knew that the villagers would know that there were healing herbs near their town but no one really had the courage to leave their homes let alone the village.

The only ones who would be courageous enough would be...

"Naruto-kun coulld you please describe this _friend_ for me?"

"Huh? Oh sure! He has long blonde hair, a scarf, and an orange whistle around his neck..." as Naruto continued to describe his new friend Haku tuned him out to contemplate her thoughts.

'There is no doubt, that boy Naruto met is the one I saw when we first got here.' Haku immediately concluded.

She turned to look at Naruto who was still describing little details about his friend and how excited and happy he seemed to be.

Naruto didn't have any other friends his age besides Haku, and vise versa; the boy he met in the woods could very well be a new friend, or a dangerous enemy.

Seeing Naruto's ecstatic face led Haku to a decision, next time he met the boy in the woods, she would go see if he was a threat. If he ever endangered Naruto's life, his own would be forfeit.

Haku would make sure of it.

Naruto stopped talking as he realized Haku wasn't listening.

Deciding to get his longest friend back to reality Naruto waved a hand in front of her face as he said playfully,

"Haku? Haaaakuuuu~!"

Suddenly noticing the hand in front of her snapped Haku from her thoughts.

"H-huh?"

"You were spacing out, is something wrong?"

"N-no nothings wrong Naruto, so when did you say you would meet him again?"

"Who, Menma? I don't think we set up a time but i'm pretty sure if I go to the herb place he'll be there!"

Just then, Ao walked in, fully garbed and full of bandages.

"Oh Naruto you're back, did you manage to finish your exercise?"

Getting a nod from the boy Ao continued, "Good, follow me and I'll continue both of you're training."

With two more nods the Mist ninja were off.

* * *

**Forest**

After a few minutes of jumping through trees the trio landed in a clearing.

Ao cleared his throat and spoke,

"Alright we have just little over a week before Jinpachi or that man Naruto faced will recover, in that time I will teach you both some ninjutsu."

Naruto's eye lit up in excitement, he wanted to learn some cool jutsu! Sure he thought his sword was cool but COMBINED with ninjutsu he would be such a badass!

As Naruto drooled at the thought Haku and Ao sweatdropped at the his ridiculous looking expression.

"What are we gonna learn huh Ao-sensei!? Oh Oh! Is it something cool like **Goshokuzame **(Five Feeding Sharks)? Or is it something like **Bakusui Shoha** (Exploding Water Colliding Wave)? What about the **Teppodama **(Bullet) technique?"

Before Naruto could continue his rant, Ao held up a hand for him to shut up. Unfortunately Naruto didn't notice and Ao was losing his patience with his student.

Eventually Ao made some handseals and summoned a water clone which immediately caught Naruto's attention.

"This" Ao said pointing to his clone, "Is what you're going to be learning."

Naruto's was open mouthed, not in awe, but in disappointment. He had seen that technique before when he saw the other ninja in the rebellion sparring. He thought it looked awesome at first until he found out that the clone had limited range before it lost its shape and it was only 1/10 as strong as the original user.

"Ehhhh!? You're making us learn the **Mizu Bunshin **(Water Clone)!? Why!?"

Ao was feigning confusion, "Hmm? I thought you wanted to learn some "Cool" ninjustu." he said with accentuated air quotes.

"But that things weak! And it can't even go that far from the user without falling apart!"

Deciding to educate his student on the benefits of the Water Clone technique, Ao began to lecture Naruto and Haku who was simply waiting quietly and patiently, unlike her rambunctious friend.

"Naruto, the Mizu Bunshin isn't as dumb as you say it is. While those deficiencies are present when using the technique, it can still aid in combat and can also provide a source of water that you can use to your advantage."

After saying this Ao got into a fighting stance and told both his students,

"I will show you both just how useful the Water Clone technique can be, Naruto attack me as you would normally, no need to hold back."

Needing no further instructions, Naruto charged in to attack, his Sakaboto in its sheath while Kubikiribocho was equipped in his hands.

Ao had summoned a water clone that was easily destroyed when Naruto attacked it to relative ease. Wasn't Ao trying to prove to him **_why _**they were useful? If it got destroyed this easily there's no point in using it! But Naruto just kept at what he was doing and focused on getting to his sensei.

Taking his chance, Naruto leapt over the seemingly harmless puddle, with full intent on attacking Ao, never once suspecting the puddle of any trickery.

That is, until Naruto saw his one eyed teacher weave through handsigns then stomp the ground shouting,

"**Suiton: Mizu Funka!** (Water Style: Water Eruption)"

Suddenly Naruto was blasted into the air as the puddle exploded upward in a great show of force, scattering water everywhere and leaving the airborne teen to fall.

But before he hit the ground Haku made a horizontal ice mirror under him to gently bring him down.

"Now do you see? That's only one of the things that Mizu Bunshins can do. So... who wants to try it first?"

Naruto raised his hand as fast as he could, in his mind, Naruto was already thinking up on how he and Haku could use combination attacks to defeat an enemy, their teamwork was fantastic already and jutsus would increase their effectiveness and deadliness to extreme levels.

He couldn't wait until the enemy came, but what would that mean for Menma?

**Time Left before Bridge Battle: 10 days**

* * *

AN

Oh... crap

I left you guys hanging for an entire year but no worries, I am not dead just lazy and exhausted from relatives who ccame over during Christmas.

Anyway here's what would happen if one of the three choices were picked to be Naruto and Haku's third teammate

Tayuya - She will be part of the pairing while still being her usual brash self and will clash with Naruto like he does Ao

Kimimaro - He will be the Sasuke of the group if picked but he will have lost his memories

Menma - He would have been calm and logical compared to the others, I guess he would be like Haku

Anyway keep reading and I'll keep updating and **VOTE **note valley of the end but PICK WHO YOU WANT!

Peace~!

-Aergaia


	24. Music for Everyone

"I'm going to let the Tank in." - In memory of Aergaia and his crew on Left 4 Dead 2

To **Quinten **\- Why do you think I titled it **The Sword Thief?**

I have no excuses other than school, my apologies but here is chapter TWENTY FOUR!

* * *

**Tazuna's House**

"Urrrrgh... My body huuuuuuuuuurrrts" Our hero groaned out.

It had been three days since they started learning the Water Clone technique and, needless to say, Ao had worked them to the bone.

In order for them to achieve the technique they needed to have basic understanding of water jutsu in general. They could have simply had a lecture with normal applied physics and theories onto how water jutsu actually worked; but Ao didn't want to tell them flat out, oh no, he wanted them to work for that kind of knowledge.

So for the past three days he had been fighting against both Naruto AND Haku at the same time always using his water techniques to douse them to the bone.

Sure they have sparred with Ao but he never used any of his lethal jutsu's, and sure enough, just for this_ "occasion" _if you can call it that, he did.

Our two heroes were hit with anything from **Water Dragons** to **Great Waterfalls**.

Suffice to say, they never got through a spar unscathed judging by Naruto's groaning.

"Daaaamn youuuu Aooo Sennnnn-seeeeeei." Naruto drawled out, glaring at his smirking eye-patched teacher who had long since been healed of his injuries.

As of now, Naruto was lying face first on the floor, collapsing after training right near the door. Haku was not faring any better but managed to find the will power to make it to the couch before she too gave in to the exhaustion.

"Love you too Naruto." Ao said as he left cackling.

"Oi... Haku..." Naruto slowly said.

"Yes... Naruto-kun?"

"I... Am going... To murder him..."

Ao heard this in the other room and replied with happiness, "Looking forward to it!"

.

"Heh... Stupid brats..."

.

"Asshole..."

* * *

**Meanwhile**

In a bleak and dreary room consisting of no colors brighter than dark blue, was Menma, lying down on his bed simply staring at the ceiling.

He had nothing to do waiting for Shiin to heal and he couldn't go into the village for obvious reasons, so he was stuck here. Although, through the days he had seen more and more of Naruto.

He needed more and more herbs to heal Shiin, and the younger boy had always been in the clearing to help him out; strangely enough.

The emphatic swordsman would always try to get him to eat some of his ramen with his friend Haku, but he knew that if they ever met she would most likely recognize him, and he couldn't take that chance.

Though the more and more they talked, Menma became fascinated with Naruto. How was a boy that young so convicted to his goals? What of his own? Did he have a goal he strived for?

He did.

.

.

.

Or... used to.

Menma had always been for the benefit of the Shiin clan; they had helped him when he had no one. They were his family, and he came to know Shiin as the brother/father figure he never had.

He was the one who taught him how to protect himself, and the clan. Because of him, he was introduced into a new world; a world where he could protect what was dear to him.

But now...

.

.

.

Now that all seemed like a dream; a passing fancy, a fantasy, a _**LIE**._

Now his family had broken apart, becoming a shell of their former selves. Where had the kind loving people he knew go? Menma had been listening in to Shiin and Jinpachi who were in the middle of dealing with their new associates/helpers.

"Oi! Menma!" Shiin called,

"Yes?"

"Get your ass in here!"

Following orders, Menma walked inside the room and saw two dark clothed men with strange gauntlets on both of their arms.

One of them had a two horned headband, while the other only had one horn both with the insignia of the hidden mist. The one with two horns wore a simple gray tunic over camouflaged clothes. The one horned one had a dark cloak but appeared to be wearing similar clothing to his counter part.

An elongated chain was connected to, and wrapped around both their gauntlets, and was razor sharp as it damaged the floor with no force other than gravity.

"Jinpachi-san, who are these men?"

The eye-patched swordsman gave him an evil smile and said happily, "Why, these are those associates I told you about! They're our back up should things go... _Awry_."

Menma looked towards his new companions who in turn looked at him with menacing eyes intimidating him with their unfriendliness.

"Oi! Relax! He's one of us." Jinpachi told the duo.

The two mercenaries simply dismissed Menma with a simple, "Feh."

Feeling a little miffed at the casual dismissal, Menma asked,

"So what are their names?"

Jinpachi was going to answer until the one with two horns on his headband stopped him.

"Oi, we can speak for ourselves; I'm Meizu, and this here is Gozu, and we are the** Demon Brothers of Kirigakure**."

'Wait _Kirigakure_?' Menma looked at their headbands and there was no slash mark on their headbands, showing that they weren't nuke-nin.

"Why are you two accepting a job to kill fellow Kirigakure members?"

It was a legitimate question, usually those who had defected from their village had a slash mark on their headband; but these two had none. Why then were they willing to accept a job to kill other Kiri-nin? It didn't make sense.

The other brother, Gozu looked at Menma with disgust for insinuating that he was a "fellow" Kiri-nin.

"Don't assume you know anything about us _trash, _just know we have no qualms killing them." Gozu answered, glaring at Menma.

"Hey, Hey! Can't we all just be pals?" Jinpachi said wrapping an arm around both Gozu and Menma.

"We don't have to like each other, just tolerate each other until the jobs finished okay?" Jinpachi said with a smile. However, his hand was on Shibuki giving the hidden message 'Get along, or be blasted to smithereens'.

.

"Fine." Gozu finally said after a pause of silence.

"Don't think this makes any of us friends." The One horned brother said, and promptly left the room along with his similarly clothed counter-part.

"Well that could've gone better." Shiin sarcastically said, still looking at the door where the two brothers had left.

Menma was also staring at the door contemplating their words, though he didn't get very far in his thoughts when Shiin asked- well, _ordered_, him to get more herbs to fix his arm.

Another visit to the herbal fields seemed to be appropriate.

* * *

**Fields**

* * *

Sure enough, when Menma had began picking up herbs for Shiin, the blond ninja had appeared to strike up a conversation.

Naruto and Menma were once again picking up herbs and conversing at the same time, both going over topics such as their childhoods, their special qualities and some insight as to who they were.

Curiosity had gotten the better of Naruto as he asked Menma where he got his ocarina from; the musician gave a smile when he remembered when he first got the orange instrument.

He had told Naruto that back in the village he came from, his leader (Shiin) used a flute to play music to paralyze and control his enemies, though when he first saw it, he was enamored by the sound it produced, not by the power it could use.

Menma expressed his love for music with the happiest face Naruto had ever seen from his fellow blond, it was contagious enough that soon Naruto was smiling also. The sheer amount of vivacious energy coming off of Menma was contagious.

He had talked about how he loved how music can evoke emotions, how it can change your mood from sadness to happiness, and how music could even stave off loneliness. Menma had talked about the different kinds of music that could be made from different instruments, whether they be string, brass, or wind. And he had talked on how all of these instruments could come together to produce a beautiful melody of music.

What Naruto didn't know was that Menma was reminiscing his time back in the Shiin clan of old, losing himself in his memories as he recalled the better days, the happier times that he used to have, and the smiles his clan had produced whenever they played. But remembering those times had the unfortunate side effect of also remembering what their music was used for now.

Instead of being used to make others happy it brought nothing but pain. The music the Shiin clan used today was all but a perverse and bastardized version of what they used to play, and reminding himself of this fact made him frown.

Naruto had not seen his friend do so though as he was also immersed in his thoughts.

'... When instruments play together they can make beautiful sounds...' Relaying Menma's words in his mind.

"I wonder..." Naruto said aloud as he stared at the grass covered ground, not once looking into Menma's confused face who wondered what he was talking about.

"Wonder what Naruto-kun?"

"If music can come together to make a beautiful harmony, can people do that too?"

What Naruto said had threw Menma off, that was one of the most philosophical things that the blonde ninja had said that threw him in for a loop. The idea did have some merit though. It was a testament to how profound Naruto's young mind was; how it was both naive and wise.

After a moments thought Menma gave Naruto his answer.

"People can do amazing things together, for better or for worse, and that includes being able to create peace."

Menma lifted up his Ocarina and stared at it fondly, continuing his opinion,

"I believe music holds a key to understanding others, you can feel someone's pain, sorrow, happiness, and love. Maybe one day there will be no more fighting in the world, but instead people who understand each other..."

Naruto stared at Menma for a few seconds and got up, needing to ponder on his words. He bid goodbye to Menma who did the same.

Little did they know however, was that there was a third party listening in from the treetops.

'I cannot allow this boy to hurt Naruto-kun.' The observer thought to herself.

Once Menma had finished with getting as much as he needed he bid Naruto farewell with him doing the same.

As he was walking through the woods back home, Haku confronted him in full ninja attire adorned with her mask for added fear effect.

"!?"

Menma was so surprised by Haku appearing abruptly that he automatically dropped his herbs and held a kunai to defend himself as Haku charged to attack him with her senbon in her hand.

Sparks flew as senbon met kunai, neither giving an inch of an advantage over an opponent until the two jumped away from each other to start yet another attack, this one using ninjutsu.

Menma brought out his Ocarina and placed his lips on it preparing to blow, and Haku stomped on the ground, sending leftover dew hurtling into the air until they stopped and combined with each other to form multiple senbon-esque icicles.

Both adversaries were waiting on the other to attack, at a standstill with only the wind moving to show how still they were.

Menma didn't know who this person was but they seemed familiar, and he knew he had seen the ninja somewhere before.

After what seemed like an eternity passed they both attacked shouting their techniques.

**"Suiton: Sensatsu Suishō!" **(Water Release: A Thousand Needles Of Death!)

**"Hijutsu: Kikoeru BakuHatsu!" **(Secret Art: Sound Explosion!)

Haku summoned forth her innumerable ice needles sending so many of them together that they looked like one giant icicle. While Menma blew into his Ocarina holding his fingers down on specific holes letting out a high pitched screech that impacted the air around him.

Needles fought against sound as the two deadly techniques clashed, Menma still blowing into his instrument and Haku sending more needles until finally they two jutsu's could't take it anymore and canceled each other out in a amazing explosion of chakra sending both combatants flying in opposite directions, both Menma and Haku impacting trees with enough force to leave cracks.

It wasn't even a full three minutes before they awoke once again, still full alert to their opponents presence and got up engaging into a fierce Taijutsu match.

Haku jumped up and spun in the air using her left leg to try and strike Menma's right temple, who blocked with his right forearm sending him flying for little bit before he stood upright again.

The long haired blond anticipated Haku's next move when he grabbed her arm and flipped her upside down and tried to break her arm by using his knee as a fulcrum to snap it at the elbow.

Luckily she twisted her body so she landed crouching and tried to punch Menma in the gut. But he was still holding onto her arm and threw her away.

Once again, they were back at a stalemate.

"Who are you?" Menma asked, the Nin's Identity was right on the tip of his tongue.

"..." Was Haku's reply.

"...You're Haku aren't you?"

Underneath her mask, Haku was a little surprised, she wasn't expecting to be found out this quickly. Seeing as now her mask was useless, she took it off, revealing her pretty face to her enemy.

"How could you tell it was me?"

"The Kirigakure symbol on your mask gave it away." Menma said as he tapped his forehead to indicate where the symbol was located.

"Why are you trying to kill me?" he inquired, Haku's response was to get in battle position once again.

"I can't let you harm what's dear to me."

Those were fighting words and Haku once again leapt at Menma.

Using her Hyoton, Haku formed a large Icicle around her right hand to create a makeshift sword and proceeded to rush Menma with slashes and lunges while he defended with his kunai, blocking each strike as best he could.

Haku placed her left hand on her right forearm and launched a fast haymaker like slash using both of her arms in the motion, the result was Menma's kunai flying out of hand and impacting a tree.

Menma fell on his butt because of the force in the blow and Haku lined up her sword to his neck.

"... Any last words before I kill you?"

Menma stared up at her, into her cold emotionless eyes as she blatantly talked about his death. His mind was racing, his heart pounding, was he going to die here? Was this it? Where it all ends? Menma closed his eyes and resigned himself to his fate. He supposed he had it coming, maybe this was how he atoned for his sins, maybe in death he could be forgiven, and he in turn could forgive himself.

Menma awaited the final blow that would end his life. Haku raised her makeshift sword ready on ending her closed-eyed enemy.

.

.

.

"**HAKU-CHAN! DINNER'S READY!**"

.

.

.

?

.

.

.

Cautiously, Menma opened his eyes to find... Nothing

Haku had just seemingly vanished without a trace, though Menma could probably hazard a good guess on where she disappeared to. Seeing as there was no danger anymore, he had packed up his belongings and went about his business as though nothing had happened.

* * *

**Tazuna's House**

* * *

When Haku had heard Naruto call her she immediately stopped what she was doing and chose to flee from the scene because she knew how protective Naruto could be. If she didn't return, Naruto would have found the body of the dead boy when he would have gone to see where she went. Although she knew Menma was bad news, she couldn't bear to see Naruto's heart broken with the death of a 'friend' so the decided to hurry back to ease Naruto's would-be fears.

Haku stopped in front of the main entrance and quickly calmed her breathing and redid her hair and clothes so as to not give any indication of there ever being a fight. When she got inside she was met with the familiar amusing sight of Naruto wolfing down food.

Naruto saw her and tried to swallow all the food he had crammed in his mouth, he almost choked on it as he struck his chest a few times to help the food go down his throat.

***GULP*** "Oi Haku! There you are, where've you been?" The blond asked as she pulled out a seat.

"Just out looking at the scenery Naruto-kun, and what have I told you about eating everything in a single bite?"

"U-um, Eh hehe..." Naruto ineloquently said as he scratched his cheek in embarrassment.

Haku giggled at his awkwardness, though her mind was thinking of other things.

'Whoever that boy was, he got lucky, next time he tries to get close to Naruto I will END him. I will never allow anyone to hurt Naruto-kun.'

And for the rest of the day she continued to have fun with her team as they all were waiting for the day they all had to fight.

* * *

**AN**

Hello its me! Not DEAD! ...yipeee...

Here is another chapter of Sword thief for the new year, I hope you liked it.

Here's to a new year, may 2016 have many updates.

\- Aergaia


End file.
